The two senior BJP leaders do not want to continue in state politics.
New Delhi: Former Chief Ministers of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Vasundhara Raje and Raman Singh respectively, are keen to join the Centre.
Sources said that the two senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, under whose leadership the BJP suffered losses in the Assembly elections in December last year, do not want to continue in state politics and, therefore, have conveyed their desire to join the Union Cabinet at the Centre. However, sources said, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has reportedly expressed his desire to remain in state politics.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to take oath for the second term on 30 May, after which he will form his new Cabinet.
After the electoral defeat in these three states, the BJP leadership started grooming a new set of leaders. Soon after the Assembly election results, the party made Vasundhara Raje, Raman Singh and Shivraj Singh Chouhan national vice president in the organisation, clearly sending a message to the party cadre that their services would be utilised at the national level, while new leaders would take charge in the states.
While Gopal Bhargava and Gulab Chand Kataria were made the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in MP and Rajasthan Assembly respectively, Dharamlal Kuashik was given the post in Chhattisgarh.
“Chouhan, Raje and Raman Singh were at the helm of affairs in their respective states. They provided stable governments during their tenure. But the time has come to move on and groom new leaders there. Therefore, none of the three were given the LoP post,” the source said.
Gopal Bhargava, a Brahmin, was chosen for the post in view of the resentment among the upper castes in MP after the Centre amended the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Kataria, on the other hand, was a Home minister in the Raje government, but he was never on good terms with her. In Chhattisgarh too, the party leadership has opted for Dharamlal Kaushik, a Kurmi (OBC) leader. The party is hopeful that Kaushik’s appointment will help it get back support of the OBC voters and at the same time, it will neutralise Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who is also a Kurmi.