Will he or won’t he. Nagarsingh Chouhan, a minister in Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s cabinet, has threatened that he will resign.
The reason: he was divested of his Ministry of Forest and Environment on Sunday. The responsibility was transferred to Ramnivas Rawat, who had crossed over from Congress, BJP’s principal rival party.
Mr Chouhan, who has been a dedicated member of the BJP for 25 years, voiced his grievances openly, stating that the party’s recent actions have been a severe blow not only to him personally but also to the tribal community he represents.
A loyalist of former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Mr Chouhan has also hinted that his wife Anita Nagarsingh Chouhan, parliamentarian from Ratlam, will also quit.
“I have been working for the Bharatiya Janata Party for 25 years, but till date, it has never happened that the party workers were not listened to. This is not only an insult to me but also to the tribals of the state,” the disgruntled MLA, who is left with Scheduled Caste Welfare Ministry, told NDTV.
His frustration was palpable as he elaborated on his exclusion from the decision-making process. “I am angry with the party. Before taking such a big decision, neither the organization nor the government informed me about anything,” Mr Chouhan added, highlighting a significant communication gap within the party ranks.
Expressing his determination to seek redress, Mr Chouhan indicated his intention to address his concerns within the party forum. He also issued a stern warning: “I will put forth my views on the party forum. If a decision is not taken, then in 1-2 days, not only will I resign, but my wife will also resign.”
The BJP has downplayed the development, saying it’s the party’s internal matter.
“Nagarsingh Chouhan is a senior minister in our party, and his wife is a respected MP of our party. They have been working for the party for a long time. He has also been given the position of State Vice President in the organization. If there are any issues, they will be presented before the organization, and a resolution will be reached very soon,” said BJP MLA Bhagwandas Sabnani.
“There is no need for Congress to speak on our behalf. This is a matter within our family, and we will resolve it amongst ourselves. Congress has no right to speak because they have never respected the tribals,” Mr Sabnani added.
The development comes on the first day of Lok Sabha’s budget session and on the eve of Modi 3.0’s first budget presentation. Numbers are key to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance at the Centre. After two terms on its own, the BJP won 240 seats this time, 32 short of majority mark, in this year’s general election.
The BJP won 163 seats in the 230-member Madhya Pradesh Assembly in the 2023 state polls. The Congress secured 66 seats.
As a powerful Bhilala tribe leader, Mr Chouhan is emerging as BJP’s young and powerful face in the Bheelanchal region of western Madhya Pradesh region and holds the key to to counter Bharatiya Adivasi Party (BAP) in the region.
Mr Chouhan recently showed his political power, by winning over a young key tribal leader Mahendra Kanoje (who heads one of the factions of the influential JAYS tribal outfit) into the BJP.
If the Minister resigns, it will spur the voice of discontent among the leaders who are feeling left out within the party due to induction of politicians from the Congress.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP swept all 29 constituencies, including veteran Congressman Kamal Nath’s stronghold of Chhindwara.
