A veteran of many battles, three-time chief minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan faces an election unlike any in his political career. In his third term as CM, albeit on account of a change of guard that followed a rebellion in the Congress which won the 2018 polls, Chouhan may have a point or two to prove to his party as much as he does to the people and his rivals.
While the inclusion of his name in the party’s third list of candidates, after being ignored in the first two, did put to rest the speculations around his political fate, he may not be an automatic choice for CM if the BJP is voted back.
The Govt Schemes
Leaving no stone unturned to retain power, the BJP has launched dedicated schemes such as ‘Ladli Bahna Yojana’ and ‘Ladli Lakshmi’ scheme to specifically tap into the women vote bank. The BJP maintains that women, who comprise 47.8 per cent of the voters in the state, make for a deciding factor with regard to a party’s electoral fortunes, as women are direct beneficiaries of most of the welfare schemes launched by the government.
Under the ‘Ladli Bahna’ scheme, eligible women will get Rs 1,250 every month. The Shivraj government has also promised to increase this dole up to Rs 3,000 per month.
The ruling dispensation has also raised the reservation for women in government jobs from 30 per cent to 35 per cent.
The BJP government has also launched the Deendayal Rasoi Yojana, under which it aims to provide full meal to labourers and the needy at Rs 5. CM Chouhan launched food vehicles under this scheme, saying its objective was to ensure the poor could buy food at concessional rates.
Also, in a big boost to the education sector, CM Chouhan launched the “Mukhyamantri Seekho Kamao Yojana”. Under this scheme, the government covers the admission fees for students in colleges who secure more than 70 per cent marks in the Class 12 boards. It also provides scooties to the top-performing students in the 12th exam.
Earlier this year, CM Chouhan also announced its ‘Jan Awas Yojana’, to ensure housing for all in the state.
Shivraj Chouhan’s Strengths And Shortcomings
Although the BJP appears to be riding the Modi wave, relying heavily on the charisma of the party’s biggest poll mascot, the potential anti-incumbency and the fatigue factor cannot be ruled out.
After three consecutive poll victories in 2003, 2008 and 2013, the BJP lost to the grand old party in 2018. However, in an intriguing turn of fate for the Kamal Nath government, then Congress old-timer and former central minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with his band of loyalists raised the flag of rebellion, leading to the eventual collapse of the Congress dispensation.
Apart from wooing the women voters, the BJP has also been banking on its electoral calling card and core poll plank Hindutva, combined with development and the “double engine” growth.
Also, in what may turn out to be a masterstroke by the BJP’s top brass and electoral brain’s trust, it has named three Union ministers, four MPs and a national general secretary as poll candidates. Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Prahlad Patel, Faggan Singh Kulaste, along with general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya will contest the Madhya Pradesh elections.
Although the ruling party intends to reap the electoral benefits of its welfare schemes, the Congress remains upbeat that its campaign against alleged corruption, inflation and unemployment, and rise in crime against women on the watch of the Shivraj regime would eventually scuttle the BJP’s hopes of returning to the hustings.