Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi with MP-elects Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: After the Lok Sabha results shock, the BJP has decided to work on the upcoming assembly polls.
On Monday, it assigned senior ministers as in-charges for these states. Union ministers Bhupender Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw were given the job of handling Maharashtra, where the party needs to get its affairs with its allies in order.
In Haryana, where it lost half the seats it won in 2019, the party has assigned union minister Dharmenrda Pradhan and former Tripura CM Biplab Deb. Union minister Shivraj Chouhan and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma have been assigned Jharkhand, while Kishan Reddy has been assigned Jammu and Kashmir.
Among these appointees, the party has a tough task in Maharashtra, where the BJP-led Mahayuti Alliance won fewer seats than the INDIA Alliance. Alliance partners have also aired their grievances in the state – the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party chose to stay out of the Cabinet when they were offered only a minister of state portfolio.
Additionally, Eknath Shinde’s faction of the Shiv Sena has publicly blamed the BJP for the losses in the state. Keeping the alliance flock together till the elections in the state, which are scheduled for October this year.
In Haryana, despite a change in the chief ministerial face, the party faced losses – from winning all the 10 seats in 2019, it won only 5 this term – which it will have to stem ahead of the assembly elections in 2024. Hoping to win Jharkhand from the JMM-Congress combine, the party has sent in two heavyweights in the state.
In Jammu and Kashmir, a state which has been facing security issues lately, the government will need to hold selections by September this year.