BJP aims to restrict Raman Singh's role; Shah, Nadda to visit Chhattisgarh soon to finalise strategy for Assembly, LS polls

New Delhi: In an attempt to distance itself from the legacy of former Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh, the Bharatiya Janata Party is grooming new leaders in Chhattisgarh. The move comes as the party aims to restrict the role of Dr Singh in state politics.

It was felt that the deep impact of Dr Singh on the state BJP, with him serving three consecutive terms in the office, is negatively affecting the saffron unit’s performance in the tribal dominated state.

Senior leaders feel that it can successfully distance itself from the allegations of misappropriation and corruption levelled on it during the earlier BJP government in the state, sources said. 

And this, the party feels can only be done by successfully limiting the role and influence of Singh over the state BJP.

As part of assessing the impact and strategising, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda are scheduled to visit Chhattisgarh over the next few days. Their visits are expected to provide a clear aim, strategy and plan of action to the state BJP unit on how to to prepare for 2023 Assembly polls and 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The two senior leaders are expected to hold wide level talks with party office bearers and also other influential community leaders during their visits to gauge the mood of the state ahead of the crucial polls next year.

With 11 Lok Sabha seats, the party hopes to do well in 2024 general elections and hope to retain or even improve on its 2019 tally of 9 seats in the lower house of Parliament. 

Why the need to prepare new leaders?

The BJP feels that the state unit needs to come out of the shadow of Dr Singh to successfully take on the Congress strongman and incumbent Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

As part of the overhaul two senior OBC leaders Arun Sao (Lok sabha MP from Bilaspur) and Narayan Chandel (MLA from Janjgir Champa) have recently been appointed as the state unit chief and leader of opposition in Assembly, respectively.

These appointments also indicate that in Chhattisgarh, the party is looking beyond Dr Raman Singh as the two are not considered close to him.

The party feels that the appointment of the two OBC leaders would help ensure garnering the powerful community in the state. Interestingly, the incumbent Congress CM Bhupesh Baghel too hails from the OBC community. OBCs constitute about 50% of the state’s population and are politically the most significant block of voters.

The BJP had suffered a massive loss in the 2018 Assembly polls securing only 14 out of the 90 seats, while the Congress was able to secure 71 seats. 

By working on this caste equation in Chhattisgarh, the party feels that it will be successful in making a comeback in the state Assembly. The BJP hopes that the upper caste voters would align with the OBC community and ensure a comeback of the party in the state, sources said.