BJP readying state units for Assembly polls

NEW DELHI: With tough electoral battles looming, BJP chief Amit Shah has begun the exercise to bring order to party units in key poll-bound states. The BJP chief has met three chief ministers and is learnt to have discussed ways to deal with emerging organisational challenges. Shah is learnt to have met the chief ministers of Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttarakhand – Vasundhara Raje, Manohar Lal Khattar and Trivendra Singh Rawat, respectively. Rushing back to the national capital from the Karnataka campaign trail, Shah reportedly held discussions with the chief ministers to fine-tune the party organisation in their respective states, sources said.

With Rajasthan heading for Assembly elections later this year and an internal assessment by the party suggesting growing anti-incumbency against the Vasundhara Raje government, Shah is likely to replace state BJP chief Ashok Paranami. Union Minister Arjun Meghwal, sources said, is in the reckoning to head the party unit in Rajasthan. Also, Raje is likely to effect a state Cabinet reshuffle to strike the right caste balance ahead of the polls, the sources added.

While Rawat is relatively new in his office, having been elected only last year, there appears to be growing dissidence against his leadership in the hilly state. While the BJP had seemingly increased its strength by inducting former state chief minister Vijay Bahuguna, the veteran former Congress leader is learnt to be nursing grievances. 

“Bahuguna was hoping to bag a Rajya Sabha nomination during the just-concluded biennial elections. The lone Rajya Sabha berth from the state, however, went to the BJP’s media head, Anil Baluni. He’s also keen that his son be given a Lok Sabha nomination in the 2019 polls. The BJP chief has given him a patient hearing,” sources added.  The BJP chief met the Haryana chief minister on Sunday. Khattar, incidentally, has been banking on BJP’s Central leaders’ support to tide over dissidence in the state unit of the party. Haryana is to have Assembly elections next year. Shah is likely to unveil organisational changes in BJP-ruled states heading for Assembly elections in the near future.