After Karnataka Loss, BJP To Change Strategy For Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh

The Karnataka crash has pushed the BJP to tweak its campaign template for the next round of state elections due later this year. Four crucial states are going to polls -- Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Chhattisgarh. Of these, only Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the BJP. The party is hoping to cash in on the revolving door trend in Rajasthan and anti-incumbency in the two others to work in its favour.

Speaking off the record, senior party leaders said the BJP has decided to keep caste equations in mind while deciding the leadership issue and candidates in all four states. This was a hard lesson from Karnataka, where its decision to remove BS Yediyurappa from the top post and deny tickets to Jagdish Shettar and Laxman Sadavi pushed the Lingayats towards the Congress.

If need be, the party is also open to electoral alliances with smaller parties, sources said. Many feel that joining forces with HD Kumaraswamy in Karnataka would have helped the BJP in a handful of seats.

The biggest change, though, will be the focus on local leaders instead of the overwhelming reliance on Central leaders and state Chief Ministers. Allowing local leaders to craft the campaign had worked well for the Congress.

Factionalism will be reigned in. In Karnataka, it was seen as a key problem that led to denial of ticket to leaders like Jagdish Shettar. This strategy will be crucial in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, where lack of cohesion is one of the biggest challenges facing the party.

Sources said in Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan will remain the face of the party but he will be asked to take other leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narendra Singh Tomar and BD Sharma along with him. Mr Scindia and his loyalists who joined the BJP in 2020, toppling the Kamal Nath government in the process, have been seen as outsiders. Distribution of tickets has been a process fraught with bickering.

In Rajasthan, former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje - seen to be out of sync with the Central leadership -- will be given preference. But state leaders belonging to different caste groups like Kirori Lal Meena, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Satish Poonia and others will also be given importance.

In Chhattisgarh, former Chief Minister Raman Singh, senior leader Brijmohan Agrawal, Arun Sao will be given importance and in Telangana, Bandi Sajay, E Rajendran, G Kishan Reddy will be key faces for the party.

State leaders will be asked to sort out their differences and to present a united front, sources said.

Also, senior leaders with mass base will be roped in formulation of election strategy. In Madhya Pradesh, there will be better coordination between the government and the organisation. Ground level workers will be given importance. Their feedback will play a key role in deciding issues, promises and strategy, sources said.