Chouhan's giant leap to national stage, made part of elite BJP board

BHOPAL: Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday was catapulted to BJP's highest decision-making body, the party's parliamentary board, even as BJP completed the generational shift by dropping party patriarch and Chouhan's mentor L K Advani from the elite 12-member group. Not just Advani, two other founding fathers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Murli Manohar Joshi have not found place in the board headed by BJP president Amit Shah.
In a token gesture, ailing Vajpayee, Advani and Joshi, for long the BJP's 'trimurti', now figure in the new five-member 'margdarshak mandal' (guiding group).
The message was clear: Chief minister Chouhan is being prepared for a bigger role for the party at the national level. But the irony can't be missed. What Advani recommended for his protégé Chouhan in March last year, was implemented by party national president Amit Shah on Tuesday. In addition, Chouhan has also been inducted into the 15-member national election committee.
On March 31 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was inducted into the parliamentary board because he would be given a major role to play in 2014 elections.
At that time Advani, who was opposing Modi as probable PM candidate stature, recommended that Chouhan was an equally efficient administrator and should be given a place of honour. But Advani's recommendation was ignored and Modi became the only chief minister to be inducted into the top decision-making body.
One year and five months later, it is none other than PM Modi's trusted man Amit Shah who willingly and without any dispute made place for Chouhan (again, as the only chief minister) in the parliamentary board. Though it was always said Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh is much closer to Prime Minister than Chouhan, he was not inducted. Neither was Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje or her Gujarat counterpart Anandiben Patel.
Speaking to reporters at the state secretariat, the chief minister said, "I will work relentlessly and implement the responsibility given to me by the party."
While Chouhan has been elevated to the party's powerful parliamentary board, Madhya Pradesh minister for urban administration and housing Kailash Vijayavargiya was appointed election in-charge for the crucial assembly elections in Haryana. He is the only minister from Madhya Pradesh who has been given such a big responsibility. And if Vijayvargiya manages to decimate Haryana CM Hooda, his stakes in the party would increase manifold.
During Lok Sabha polls in April-May, Vijayavargiya was again the only minister from Madhya Pradesh who was asked to manage elections in Varanasi, Modi's constituency. The minister for urban administration is known to be close to the Prime Minister and might soon be elevated to a position of greater accountability.
Union minister for social justice Thavar Chand Gehlot also from the state has been retained as a member of the board headed by Amit Shah. Gehlot, is important as he is Dalit leader and extremely amiable.