BJP balances caste dynamics in heartland picks

The Bharatiya Janata Party's efforts to effect a generational shift by introducing three new faces as chief ministers in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh this week also meticulously balanced caste considerations as part of its heartland political strategy ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

- Dhrubo Jyoti

The party picked new faces in all three heartland states where it won impressive victories earlier this year but was careful to cater to major caste groups by appointing deputy chief ministers. This, analysts said, could help the party hold on to the rainbow Hindu coalition across castes that it built on its way to its second term in 2019.

This week, as the veil of suspense lifted from the BJP's internal deliberations, it revealed a delicately crafted social engineering strategy that attempted to reach out to key communities - tribals, backwards, upper-castes and Dalits. This is a region where the party was already strong in 2019, having won 62 out of the 65 seats in the three provinces. But the renewed push could help the party beyond the heartland, and deepen its support base in these communities in next summer's general elections.

In Chhattisgarh, the party picked a senior tribal leader, Vishnu Deo Sai, to be CM.