Senior Madhya Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party figures like Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Patel met with chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday night to discuss internal strife and some senior party figures defecting to the opposition Congress, according to party leaders aware of the developments.
A senior party leader claims that in addition to discussing electoral tactics, there was also talk of anti-incumbency.
The state will vote with Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana, and Mizoram in December's last significant set of state elections before to the 2024 presidential election.
The BJP has held power in Madhya Pradesh for 20 years, with the exception of a two-year period (December 2018–March 2020) when the Congress was in charge. The party is eager to keep that position.
Three BJP MLAs and two of Chouhan's cabinet ministers, Gopal Bhargava and Govind Singh Rajput, claimed that urban development minister Bhupendra Singh was not approving projects in their respective constituencies days before to the meeting.
Bhargava and Rajput discussed the matter with Chouhan on Tuesday. The CM reportedly gave the two men his word that he would find a solution, according to a second party leader. According to a third party source, the BJP's national leadership has also requested a “factual” report on the conflict from the state BJP unit.
The party is also paying careful attention to statements made by party officials that seem to indicate dissatisfaction with some of the ministers and the party's state leadership. For instance, former BJP legislators Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat and Satyanarayan Sattan have complained that party officials are not considering their proposals and grievances. Anoop Mishra, a different former BJP minister, has said that the party would have “difficulty” in elections if party members' opinions are not heard.
Before joining the Congress earlier this month, Deepak Joshi, the son of former MP chief minister Kailash Joshi, lambasted the chief minister and the party hierarchy. Bharat Singh Kushwaha, a prominent party official and the previous head of the MP OBC branch, also joined the Congress after declaring that the party had been “taken over” by outsiders.
“Many of those raising these problems are seeking party tickets and worry that they may not receive one this time, therefore they are candidates for party tickets. They are expressing their displeasure since the party has begun the process of identifying electable candidates for various seats, according to a fourth party leader.
The third BJP official said that at the meeting on Wednesday, which was also attended by the party's national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, state BJP president VD Sharma, and state general secretary Hitanand Sharma, the topic of certain BJP officials defecting to the Congress was also brought up.
However, he said, the main topic of conversation was the conflict between the leaders and their public pronouncements.
The leader said, “Some significant decision will be made in the upcoming month to end these conflicts as it is negatively affecting the party's preparations for elections.”
