“In BJP’s working style, there will be no duvidha (difficulty) on the CM face. In BJP, there will never be a fight over the chief ministerial pick. It will all be smooth. I would urge you to not speculate and wait for December 3,” Patel tells News18 as he boards a chopper from the Jabalpur airport for his rallies.
Patel is an OBC (Lodhi) leader and the last three chief ministers of the BJP have been all OBCs — Uma Bharti, Babu Lal Gaur and Shivraj Singh Chouhan. This makes Patel’s case stronger for the CM’s chair if his party wins Madhya Pradesh yet again this year.
Patel, however, refuses to bat for himself and instead praises Chouhan. “It is a moment of pride for us that we have given so many OBC CMs in Madhya Pradesh — Uma Bharti, Babu Lal Gaur and Shivraj Chouhan. In our entire team, Chouhan is the most popular leader among the masses in MP. This is beyond dispute,” Patel told News18.
He points out how he has been a five-time MP from different seats in the state while his counterpart MPs like Kailash Vijayavargiya, Narendra Singh Tomar and Faggan Singh Kulaste have fought an assembly election at some point of time. “It is my first assembly election,” Patel says about his candidature from Narsinghpur.
“My caste is backward but I am not backward and I do not take advantage of it. Our central leadership strategy is the same for five states on CM face — if it is was different in MP, a question mark could have been raised,” Patel said when asked further if the party will choose an OBC as the next chief minister.
‘Kamal Nath is Tired’
Patel is extremely critical of Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh.
“Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh are both tired faces of state politics. Kamal Nath cannot walk for even one kilometre, he can’t do five sabhas a day. He is a ‘thaka hua neta’. He has been Congress state president for six years but did not take one meeting in any district. His track record is bad. He has not visited any rural ward in Chhindwara though people voted for him for 42 years. No one in Chhindwara will say Kamal Nath visited their house. He is arrogant and tainted. The state’s people have rejected him. Kamal Nath is Thagraj (fraud),” Patel told News18.
Patel says Kamal Nath earlier said there is a fight inside the BJP. “But we all saw how clothes started getting torn in Congress when tickets were announced. There is a huge fight between Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh — it has been exposed. Kamal Nath had said they would announce candidates months in advance but we saw what happened,” Patel told News18.
No anti-incumbency
BJP has been in power for almost 20 years in Madhya Pradesh but Patel says there is no anti-incumbency in front of development. “Our schemes are aimed at welfare of the poor — no one can criticise our schemes. We are on the forefront of women empowerment and have a vision for the future. We have reduced LPG prices to make it affordable — these are not freebies. It is not giving greed to the people,” Patel said.
In his rally at Majholi in Jabalpur, Patel is asking for votes for three sitting BJP MLAs. The seven MPs of the BJP fighting in these elections, including Patel, are now aggressively campaigning in other seats for BJP candidates. “I have campaigned on 33 seats and will reach 50 seats more in the coming days,” Patel told News18.
Patel is fighting from Narsinghpur but has hardly been there as his brother and sitting MLA from that seat, Jaalim Singh, has handled the campaigning. “I am fighting from Narsinghpur — my brother is MLA from there. By making me a candidate, BJP has given an answer to parivaarvaad. I am proud of the same,” Patel told News18.
At his rallies, Patel speaks of Ram Temple in Ayodhya and of three Diwalis in MP — the actual festival, the December 3 win for BJP and the opening of the Ayodhya temple on January 22 next year. “I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we are now telling you the Ram temple date also,” Patel tells the crowd at his rally.
Will it be a Diwali for Patel too on December 3 as his aides say he is a front runner for the CM’s chair in the BJP this time?