BJP’s Golden Era Fails to Develop Mass Leaders in States
STORIES, ANALYSES, EXPERT VIEWS
In the view of DK Singh (Political Editor at ThePrint), “unlike Vajpayee & Advani, gen next BJP leaders groomed by Modi-Shah don’t look promising.”
The Advani-Vajpayee duo had groomed — Narendra Modi, Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath Singh, Pramod Mahajan, Vasundhara Raje, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and many more.
The Modi led BJP, argues Singh, could not do the same. He looks at PM Modi’s legacy in terms of how he groomed the next generation of leadership.
Chief Minsters did not make impact
The first set of chief ministers that Modi-Shah appointed in 2014 included Manohar Lal Khattar in Haryana, Devendra Fadnavis in Maharashtra, and Raghubar Das in Jharkhand. All three have feared badly and are not in any leadership race.
In 2016, taking of chief ministers, the BJP high command favoured and promoted Sarbananda Sonowal as Assam CM and then his successor Himanta Biswa Sarma. In Uttarakhand, Modi-Shah promoted Trivendra Singh Rawat as the CM in 2017, only to replace him with Tirath Sigh Rawat who was in turn replaced within four months by Pushkar Singh Dhami.
In Himachal Pradesh, Modi-Shah chose Jairam Thakur over Prem Kumar Dhumal. Incidentally, Dhumal’s son, Anurag Thakur, a bright, young leader who worked hard to endear himself to Modi-Shah, has been left out in the cold now.
In Gujarat, Modi-Shah decided to replace Anandiben Patel with Vijay Rupani in 2016. They, then replaced him with Bhupendra Patel about 14 months before the 2022 election.
Among the other faces Modi-Shah promoted, there were Biplab Deb in Tripura and N Biren Singh in Manipur. Deb, who was credited for bringing the BJP to power in the Communist-ruled state for the first time, was removed as the CM about eight months before the 2023 assembly election. The reason for his replacement is still in the realm of speculation. Biren Singh of Manipur, however, continues to enjoy Modi-Shah’s trust.
Only Fadnavis and Yogi Adityanath shone
Singh concludes that among the regional leaders promoted by Modi-Shah in the last 10 years, “only two of them really shone—Fadnavis and Yogi Adityanath….. Yogi is the last performing man standing today.
“There has been much speculation about how Adityanath became the CM. Nobody saw him emerging as Modi’s potential successor. As it is, Yogi is under siege from within, with speculation swirling about how the setback to the BJP in the last Lok Sabha election was part of a larger plan to ‘sabotage’ his ‘ambitions’. Yogi seems to have survived it….He is charting his own path, trying to draw a bigger line than his rivals’.”
Central leaders
Even leaders who Modi-Shah promoted by bringing them into the government, “lived in their shadows, basking in their reflected glory. Others just fell by the wayside….”
For example, Smriti Irani, “who emerged as a leader in her own right in today’s male-dominated leadership of the BJP, was pushed to the sidelines….”
And Dharmendra Pradhan, “who worked hard in Odisha for years to bring the party to power, was left disappointed as Modi-Shah opted for Mohan Majhi as the CM.”
Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma, a first-term MLA who trumped veteran Vasundhara Raje to secure the coveted chair, also failed.
Questions that need answers
Singh poses a number of questions that need to be answered. “Why is it that Vajpayee-Advani could nurture future leadership but Modi-Shah couldn’t? Is it because Vajpayee-Advani didn’t see themselves as bigger than the party and worked to strengthen it for a long term? Is it because they put a premium on leadership potential and skills, not individual leaders’ ‘loyalty’ and ability to bend backward and forward? Is it because Vajpayee-Advani didn’t have insecurities about new leadership possibly throwing up a challenge? Or, is it just the failure to spot and judge talent and competence?”
