Meet strategists who delivered Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to BJP

New Delhi: The limelight for the electoral win in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is set on senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah and incumbent Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. However, it must not be forgotten that a dedicated team was working behind the scenes in the two weak states to deliver unprecedented results for the saffron outfit.

While the BJP was somewhat sure of making a comeback in Rajasthan, it was not confident about the electoral outcome in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh till even three months back. This forced the saffron unit to deploy senior leaders to help boost the morale of its cadre and help ensure a better performance by the BJP candidates.

The BJP deployed National joint general secretary Shiv Prakash and Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav who were finalizing and implementing political strategy in Madhya Pradesh. While in Chhattisgarh this task had been entrusted to senior leader Om Mathur. While Modi, Shah and Chouhan were the face of the poll campaign, these strategists remained out of the limelight and ensured an unprecedented outcome for the party.

These leaders were on the ground interacting with the cadre and ensuring that the public was made aware of the welfare schemes that were being implemented for their welfare, sources said. In Chhattisgarh, the cadre also ensured that the message was sent to the masses that welfare schemes cleared by Narendra Modi government were not being implemented by the Congress’ state government, sources added.

While in Madhya Pradesh the saffron unit was battling anti-incumbency of almost four terms in Chhattisgarh it was against the Congress’ strongman CM Bhupesh Baghel. The BJP had suffered a massive loss in Chhattisgarh in the 2018 Assembly polls securing only 14 out of the 90 seats, while the Congress was able to secure 71 seats. And the BJP had a really uphill task to overcome this challenge.

It is believed that the Assembly poll victory outcome in Chhattisgarh was a surprise for the BJP as well, apart from the Congress and self-proclaimed political analysts. However, there was one person who was silently confident of an imminent upset and ouster of the Bhupesh Baghel government. The party's state in-charge Om Mathur had apparently explicitly told the top leaders that a saffron surprise was going to happen in the central Indian state, sources said.

The Central leadership of the party had given their complete backing to these senior leaders and asked them to ensure a favourable outcome as a victory here would go a long way in ensuring better performance for the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

With 29 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP had secured 27 seats in the 2014 general election while it had bettered its performance and secured 28 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. With 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh, the BJP hopes to do well in the 2024 general elections and improve on its 2019 tally of 9 seats in the lower house of Parliament.

The backroom strategists have delivered the two toughest states to the BJP and now the victory has enthused the saffron unit and it hopes to maintain its central Indian citadel in the 2024 general elections.