Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan with BJP workers and supporters celebrates the party's lead during counting of votes for MP Assembly elections, in Bhopal.
Credit: PTI Photo
The BJP swept Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections 2023 with a thumping majority of 167-plus seats (53 win and 114 leads) out of total 230 in their kitty. On the other hand, the opposition congress was completely routed, proving some of the exit poll results wrong.
There were 2,534 candidates in the 2023 Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections which recorded a voting turnout of 77.15 per cent. According to EC estimates, the BJP vote share was 48.69 per cent, a sharp rise of almost 8 per cent from the previous figure of 41.02 per cent in 2018.
Interestingly though the BSP, SP and AAP failed to open their account in this election, Bharat Adivasi party candidate Kamleshwar Dodiyar won the Sailana (no-221) assembly seat by a margin of over 4,600 votes. He defeated nearest rival congress candidate and MLA Harsh Vijay Gehlot.
In the battle of two 'Kamals' (Kamal Nath and BJP party symbol - lotus) one was set to bloom in the state of Madhya Pradesh, and it is BJP which has returned to power for the fifth consecutive time in MP, offsetting the anti-incumbency wave.
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With a break only from December 2018 to March 2020, the BJP has ruled the state uninterruptedly since 2003. The flagship scheme Ladli Behna, launched in MP a few months ago, proved to be a game-changer. Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s "magic" yielded electoral dividends for the party once again.
PM Modi held approximately 14 meetings in Madhya Pradesh and the 'double-engine sarkar' juggernaut made people believe that ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’ means business.
Besides, the party’s 'Chanakya' and Union Home Minister Amit Shah's micro-management helped BJP retain power in Madhya Pradesh. BJP's booth-level management has been far more effective than the opposition camp.
Focus on women voters, flagship scheme Ladli Behna paid rich electoral dividends
With a targeted approach, the BJP recorded a sharp rise from 43 per cent to 50 per cent in women vote share, while congress saw a 3 per cent drop in female vote share from 2018.
BJP started Ladli Behna Yojana before the Assembly elections and this scheme proved to be a game-changer for ruling BJP. Under this scheme, eligible women are entitled to get Rs 1,250 every month.
The anti-incumbency environment that was prevailing against the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh was faded away by the Ladli Behna scheme. Initially, Rs 1,000 was offered to women under Ladli Behna Yojana which was later increased to Rs 1,250 per month.
Interestingly, the last instalment was disbursed/transferred to beneficiaries on November 9-10, seven days before the polling date. Women associated with Madhya Pradesh Rural Livelihood Groups were given loans at low interest rates to become self-reliant.
Besides, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also promised to give cylinders for Rs 450 to the women beneficiaries of Ladli Behna Yojana. The voting turnout of 77.15 per cent was the highest ever voting turnout recorded in the state with an increase of 2 per cent of women voters.
PM Modi's 'magic' has worked
Prime Minister Narendra Modi held several public meetings while campaigning for the party in Madhya Pradesh. These meetings were held in Bundelkhand, Baghelkhand, tribal-dominated Shahdol and Gwalior-Chambal divisions, etc. The PM enumerated the benefits of the 'double-engine government' in most of the public meetings.
Also, CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan did not leave any stone unturned and walked shoulder to shoulder with Modi doing round-the-clock election campaigning. Chouhan held more than 100 meetings across Madhya Pradesh. He wooed women voters by citing Ladli Behna Yojana on each occasion.
BJP’s national organisation played a key-role
Amit Shah directly monitored the developments and made planning for the Assembly elections by holding meetings even with booth-level workers. PM Modi held 14 rallies in different areas of MP. Banner and posters filled with slogans of "MP ke man mein Modi aur Modi ke man mein MP" were circulated across the state to resonate with the public.
Shah also persuaded party dissents by speaking to them personally. As a strategy, BJP had released the first list of its candidates even before the implementation of the code of conduct in the state.
Striking a surprise, BJP fielded senior leaders, union ministers and MPs for the Assembly polls. Leaders including Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Faggan Singh Kulaste, Prahlad Patel, general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, MP Ganesh Singh, MP Rakesh Singh were given tickets to contest Assembly election and many of them won.
Focus on farmers
BJP, while addressing other issues, did not lose sight from issues of the farmers’ who make a sizable chunk in the vote share. BJP in its manifesto announced an increase in MSP on paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal and Rs 2,700 per quintal on wheat. The direct cash transfer scheme under Kisan Samman Nidhi was also implemented. PM Modi underlined farmer-centric schemes launched by the central government in his public meeting repeatedly.
Congress' guarantee did not work
Congress ran several campaigns targeting BJP to capitalise on anti-incumbency in Madhya Pradesh, but those proved to be ineffective. Congress also talked about implementing nine guarantees to woo the public, but that did not convince people either. Critics claimed that the promises made by congress (farm loan waiver) earlier were not fulfilled, which angered the farmers.