While Revanth Reddy appeared to be the clear frontrunner to head the first Congress government in Telangana, there was no clarity about BJP’s picks; even for MP where the party won a massive mandate.
MP: CM Shivraj Chouhan, Narendra Tomar, Jyotiraditya Scindia watch election results in Bhopal
Shivraj Singh Chouhan should ordinarily have been a shoo-in after the best result since 2003, but did not appear to be a certainty, with many in the party wondering whether it would use the opportunity to experiment and wheel out a new face. While Chouhan bested his challenger duo, Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh, and there is acknowledgement of his role in transforming MP from being a member of the BIMARU club of backward states into an agricultural powerhouse on the verge of takeoff, the party has for some time felt the need to bring to the fore alternative leadership as part of efforts to develop MP into another Gujarat-type saffron bastion.
Prahlad Patel, an OBC like Chouhan, is seen as a powerful contender for the post, both because of his personal popularity and the organisational necessity to promote backward leaders. Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narendra Tomar have also been discussed as possibilities.
In Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje, the two-term CM, is also far from being a surefire bet because of the leadership’s reservations about her style of functioning. Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, long considered a possibility in view of his performance in the water resources ministry, especially the push for bringing tap water to each household, remains a strong contender in case the leadership finally decides to consider fresh options.