Madhya Pradesh Assembly Surveys: Narendra Modi's Social Engineering Experiments in 1998 Could Save the BJP's Life

At the end of the 1990s, Narendra Modi, secretary-general of the BJP (organization) and head of Madhya Pradesh affairs, acquired a new nickname. He called himself "master sahib" because of his convincing way of leading the party organization and reshaping the support base.

Of course, in 1998, Madhya Pradesh became a powerful bastion of the BJP which kept its position. substantial support between urban areas and upper castes. Historically, the state is also known to have the strongest organization of the BJP and its previous avatar, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), because of the party's sustained activities on the ground. Kushabhau Thakre, the most effective organizer of the BJP, also oversaw all of this development and allowed the BJP to become more and more efficient. He also took the party presidency in 1998.

But the style of construction and consolidation of the party organization by Thakre was quite traditional, directly from the textbook. He enlisted workers belonging to the voters of Sangh Parivar and trained them to become political activists. In 1998, Modi introduced radical changes in the unity of Madhya Pradesh that bordered on the traditional leadership of the party. And MP had many top leaders ranging from Sunder Lal Patwa to Vikram Varma, to Kailash Joshi, as well as emerging young leaders like Uma Bharti. Modi encouraged a new type of leadership and encouraged the organization to extend its arc of influence to scheduled castes and tribes, which it considered fruits at hand. His efforts met with strong resistance within the BJP leadership. However, he continued the strategy of reorganizing the social bases and mentoring of marginalized groups until the Hindutva retreat.

Although the BJP lost the legislative elections in 1998, its expansion was quite evident among tribes, CBOs and SCs – sections that were traditionally on the side of Congress. In the 2003 badembly elections, the emergence of Uma Bharti, then Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was a natural corollary of the persuasive strategy of organizational expansion of none other than the " Master Sahib "of 1998. There is no doubt that the 15 years of uninterrupted rule of the BJP came with a cost. Its traditional supporters, the upper castes landowners, are substantially alienated. However, it is quite possible that this political attrition will be replaced by a strengthening of the social bases of the marginalized layers, in particular CSs, tribes and urban poor. Curiously, this numerically sound social base is not as explicit as the clbadic supporters of the BJP.

In the Malwa region, the BJP does not seem to have such a sticky counter as Chambal and Bundelkhand where the party is confronted. serious anti-occupation. The region that includes a significant portion of the state is urbanized and prosperous. For example, Indore is known as "mini Mumbai" for the state's residents because of the prosperity of its commerce and business. The city is a delight for gourmands and street food is a craze. In Sarrafa Bazar, which is the largest business center for gold, diamonds and ornaments, the gloom is palpable compared to the past. "Yes, our business has decreased since the demonetization," recognize traders. Yet, they do not attack the prime minister. "We are BJP voters and we do not think we're going anywhere else," they said to the question of whether their vote choice would change this time.

Indore is a powerful bastion of the BJP, where Sumitra Mahajan, the president of Lok Sabha, has won the eight times in a row. Over the last ten years, the city has turned into a model for the rest of India because of its cleanliness and civic facilities. Only 15 years ago, the city was a real urban mess during Digvijay Singh's tenure. Even the shantytowns are refurbished and provided with amenities ensuring cleanliness and hygiene. The changing face of Indore and its neighboring urban areas is appreciated even among marginalized populations. No indication, this bastion of the BJP shows no sign of vulnerability. Union government projects to facilitate housing construction for the poor, access to electricity and cooking gas in rural areas have found favor with the electorate.

There is no doubt that the aspiration of the population has increased exponentially over the years. And 15 years is a long time for people to get tired of one dispensation. Yet, the electorate is rather suspicious of a worse change. Given Digvijay Singh's decade-long history of governance from 1993 to 2003, a significant number of people of the previous generation are not only cynical about the Congress, but also remember with concern for the past. And the presence of an offshoot of the former Gwalior State, Jyotiraditya Scindia, and industrialist Kamal Nath does not adequately ensure the electorate that congressional leaders will change spot. In this region, the social engineering of the BJP, its solid organization and the charm of Modi will combine to protect the territory of Shivraj Singh Chouhan. As far as Congress is concerned, he seems to have internalized the saying that "losing, it is winning, it is a habit".