BHOPAL: The BJP on Monday sprang a surprise by picking Mohan Yadav, higher education minister in the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, as the Madhya Pradesh chief minister. By picking the 58-year-old OBC leader and third-time MLA, the BJP has unveiled a new, calculated political move to reap electoral gains not only in the central Indian state but also in the politically crucial states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
While MP has around 6% Yadav population (concentrated in areas of Gwalior-Chambal, Bundelkhand and some parts of Malwa-Nimar region), the Yadavs are the largest OBC bloc in Bihar with over 14% population and UP with around 9% population.
The Yadavs are influential because they can swing results in around 60 Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. Out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, 25-30 have sizeable Yadav population, while 17 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar have Yadav voter base.
By picking Mohan Yadav, who has the strong backing of the RSS, the BJP aims to send out a symbolic message of political empowerment of Yadavs to UP and Bihar, where the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party and Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD are either in power or the primary opposition.
“The entire move is also intended largely to send a message to Yadavs in UP and Bihar that the saffron party isn’t at all averse to their political empowerment,” said a source. Also, by going in for a Brahmin deputy CM in Rajendra Shukla (a powerful minister from Vindhya region which neighbours eastern UP) and Jagdish Devda (Scheduled Caste minister from Malwa region), the party wants to consolidate its position among the Brahmins as well as Dalits.
With ex-Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar likely to be elected as the Speaker, the party is trying to cement its position in the Thakur vote base, particularly in the Gwalior-Chambal region. According to sources, Madhya Pradesh has always been seen as a political experiments laboratory for the Sangh, which would be replicated in other parts of the country. “What happened at the MP BJP legislature party meeting in Bhopal shouldn’t be seen as a bolt from the blue,” said a source.