BJP set to replicate Gujarat plan in Madhya Pradesh for 2023 elections

The Madhya Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has scripted a multipronged strategy to blunt anti-incumbency, iron out differences between leaders, and enhance public engagement ahead of the 2023 assembly polls, said party functionaries aware of the details.

Amid speculation that the party high command may affect a Gujarat-like change in the state’s leadership by installing a new council of ministers, functionaries who spoke on condition of anonymity said there is a possibility that the party may “drop between 40-45% of the sitting MLAs” to field fresh faces.

The attempts to set the house in order come in the wake of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s instruction to strengthen the organisational structure and the praise he heaped on the Gujarat unit of the party for pulling out all the stops to win the assembly polls. At a meeting of the BJP’s lawmakers last week, Modi complimented Gujarat unit president CR Paatil for leading the party to an unprecedented victory by winning 156 of the 182 seats.

“In the coming weeks, our state unit will redouble efforts in terms of voter engagement, concerted outreach among communities and reviving the booth committees to motivate voters,” a senior party functionary said.

Since a similar outreach in Gujarat paid dividends in the state where the party has not lost an election since 1995, leaders in Madhya Pradesh are hopeful that a renewed push will help overcome the impediments of anti-incumbency in their state as well. The BJP was in power in Madhya Pradesh continuously between 2003 and 2018. In 2018, it lost the election, winning 109 of the 230 seats, while the Congress won 114 to form the government. The BJP returned to power in March 2020 after 21 legislators resigned from the Congress and crossed over to the BJP.

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