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Signalling a generational shift in the election-going states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP is fielding new faces making way for a younger set of leaders. In Chhattisgarh, more than 50 per cent of the candidates are first time candidates. In Rajasthan, too, by fielding young faces like Parliamentarians Rajyavardhan Rathore and Diya Kumari, the party is presenting an alternative to its regional satraps.
The party’s Chhattisgarh unit chief Arun Sao, an OBC leader and first time MP who was handed the job last year, says that in the state, the BJP is consciously fielding newer leaders. "Among the 85 people the party has given tickets to, 43 are fighting elections for the first time, and 34 candidates are below the age of 50. This shows that the party is keen on giving chances to newer faces," Sao said.
Sao, an MP, is among the Parliamentarians in the fray from Chhattisgarh; others include Union minister Renuka Singh and Gomati Sai. Among the new faces the party has fielded is former 2005 batch IAS officer OP Chaudhary and Lok Sabha MP Vijay Baghel, who has been tasked to take on his popular uncle, chief minister Bhupesh Baghel from the Durg constituency.
A general secretary of the party, not wishing to be named, said that the move is a repeat of its strategies in the Assembly elections in Gujarat and Karnataka. "The party usually experiments with new names in each election, and not necessarily all of them are young leaders. The party is always on the lookout for the next line of leaders," the leader said.
Despite the push for new faces, the party has brought in former CM Raman Singh from the central leadership, roping him to decide names for the candidate list. In 2003, when the BJP first came to power in the state, Singh was sent in from the Centre to lead the state unit in another such generational shift.
The same strategy does not seem to be in application in Rajasthan, where the party remains resistant to naming its only female regional satrap – Vasundhara Raje – as the chief ministerial candidate. By not yet giving her a ticket, and instead fielding another royal, Lok Sabha MP Diya Kumari, the BJP is presenting an alternative in a state where there is no dearth of claimants to the chief minister’s face.
Apart from Rathore and Kumari, the party has fielded five more Parliamentarians in the state – Kirodi Lal Meena, Baba Balaknath, Narendra Kumar, Bhagirath Choudhary and Devji Patel. The move has, however, led to some anger and the party has asked some of its senior leaders to placate candidates.
In MP, too, where the party is contending with several hopefuls for the CM’s face, it has not yet named Shivraj Chouhan, but has brought in faces from its national leadership — Union ministers Prahlad Patel, Narendra Tomar and Faggan Kulaste — into the fray. Along with Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, all the leaders are considered to have a shot at the top job.