10 BJP MPs elected to assemblies quit Parl amid suspense over new roles

Ten BJP members, who were recently elected to the legislatures of Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, on Wednesday resigned from Parliament. This included nine from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha. Two more are likely to send in their resignations soon.

The resignations contributed to the suspense on whether the BJP’s top leadership would continue with the old guard as the chief ministers of the three Hindi heartland states, or pick from among those who have vacated their Parliament membership . According to sources, the PM's conceptualisation of four ‘castes’ — women, youth, farmers and the poor — could determine the choice of the CMs and their deputies. In his speech on Sunday, Modi specifically acknowledged the support to the BJP of women, Scheduled Tribes and the youth in the three states.
 

Those who resigned included Union Cabinet minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and Ministers of State Prahlad Singh Patel and Renuka Singh, which would necessitate changes in the Union council of ministers. Patel said he would soon quit the council of ministers. Rajya Sabha member Kirodi Lal Meena also resigned. Meena’s Upper House term was scheduled to end in April 2024.

However, Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan dropped enough hints on Wednesday that he was keen to continue at the helm of the state. He visited Chhindwara, announcing “Mission 29”, which is about ensuring the BJP wins all 29 seats in the state. He lunched with a tribal family, washed the feet of women, declared that his next objective after ‘Ladli Behna’ was to encourage women to become “Lakhpati Didis”, earning Rs 10,000 a month. Chouhan said the BJP’s previous best in MP was 173 seats with a vote share of 42.5 per cent, while on this occasion it had secured an unprecedented 48.55 per cent.

 

The BJP had fielded 21 of its MPs in the Assembly polls — seven each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, four in Chhattisgarh, and three in Telangana. Of the 21, Union minister Faggan Singh Kulaste, a six-term Lok Sabha MP, lost, as did eight others.

BJP President J P Nadda accompanied 10 of the dozen MPs as they tendered their resignation from Parliament. Two others, Renuka Singh and Mahant Balaknath, will send in their resignations later, BJP sources said. The 10 also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Other MPs who quit are Rakesh Singh, Uday Pratap Singh and Riti Pathak 
 

from Madhya Pradesh; Diya Kumari and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore from Rajasthan; and Gomati Sai and Arun Sao from Chhattisgarh. 

Meena is from Rajasthan; Tomar, the Union agriculture minister, is from Madhya Pradesh; as is Patel, while Renuka Singh is from Chhattisgarh.
 

BJP sources said some of those who have quit are likely to be given key responsibilities in the states, such as Speakers, key ministries or made state unit chiefs to help the party prepare for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Patel, who comes from the politically significant Other Backward Classes (OBC), is a contender for his state’s chief ministerial chair. In Chhattisgarh, Sao, the state unit chief, is an OBC, while Sai belongs to the Scheduled Tribes.
 

The BJP Parliamentary Party will meet on Thursday in Parliament and felicitate the PM for the recent wins.