Will the BJP continue its 20-year-long tradition of appointing an OBC Chief Minister in Madhya Pradesh or will it opt for a leader of another caste this time, will be cleared in all probability on 11 December.

The BJP high command has appointed three central observers for the state and their meeting with the BJP MLAs in MP is scheduled on Monday evening. Following the meeting, the ongoing suspense on who would be the next Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh is most likely to end on 11 December.

Advertisement

According to the BJP leaders, the meeting would be held on Monday evening and the three observers would meet all the 163 newly elected BJP MLAs and finalize the name of the new CM of MP.

The BJP’s central leadership has appointed Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, BJP OBC cell national president K Laxman and BJP national secretary Asha Lakda as the three observers for MP.

Madhya Pradesh has 48 per cent OBC population and an almost identical percentage of OBC voters. Winning the Lok Sabha polls of 2024 is one of the most important goals of the BJP.

This and the fact that one of the central observers is the head of the BJP OBC Morcha, are indications that the party might again choose an OBC CM.

If the saffron party sticks to its history of appointing an OBC CM, it could continue with Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is an OBC and belongs to Kirar community. This would be Chouhan’s fifth term, as CM of MP. He is already the longest serving BJP CM in India and the longest serving CM in MP.

However, if the BJP decides to replace Shivraj Singh Chouhan with another OBC, then the front-runner for the post would be senior leader and former union minister Prahlad Singh Patel, who has won as an MLA from Narsinghpur assembly seat. He is a Lodh and belongs to the OBC.

The BJP has had OBC CMs in MP since 2003, beginning with Uma Bharti, a Lodh, followed by late Babulal Gaur, Yadav, in 2004 and then Shivraj Singh Chouhan, since 2005.

Notwithstanding that the BJP could also decide to change its choice of caste this time, and in that case one of the contenders could be Narendra Singh Tomar, who is a Rajput. He is a veteran leader and former union minister, who has won as an MLA from Dimni seat.

Other aspirants for the CM post could also be BJP MP Chief V D Sharma and BJP general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya, who has also won as an MLA from Indore. V D Sharma did not contest the assembly polls.

The name of union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia is also quietly doing the rounds. All these leaders, however, have publicly denied being in the running for the post of CM.

After the BJP’s landslide win in the MP assembly polls, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said on several occasions, “I was never in the race for the CM and still am not.”

Nonetheless, Mr Chouhan has also declared that he has already started campaigning for the party for the Lok Sabha polls of 2024.

He has guaranteed that this time he would ensure the BJP wins all 29 Lok Sabha seats by emerging victorious in all the 230 assembly constituencies of the state so that Narendra Modi becomes the PM again.

Presently, the BJP has 28 seats of MP, barring the one seat of Chhindwara from where Nakul Nath, son of MP Congress chief Kamal Nath, is the Lok Sabha member.

Stepping aside all the visible probable candidates, the BJP could also spring a surprise and choose a new face to be the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh.