“Effect of demand for caste census”: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on BJP’s selection of CMs

New Delhi [India]: After the BJP named an OBC and tribal leader as the new Chief Minister’s of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, respectively, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Tuesday that this was an effect of the demand for a caste census.

Chowdhury said that the BJP has appointed the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh keeping in mind the caste equation after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi talked about the caste census.

“After Rahul ji spoke about caste census, now CMs (in Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh) are appointed keeping in mind the caste equation. Modi ji is now walking on the path of Rahul ji. This is an effect of demand for a caste census,” the Congress leader said.

The BJP on Sunday picked Vishnu Deo Sai, a prominent tribal leader, as the next chief minister of Chhattisgarh. On the other hand, Mohan Yadav was announced as the next chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.

“When Rahul ji went to Karnataka, he made five promises to the people. Modi Ji and the BJP have learned from him. Now they are also promising to people before the elections,” he added.

Vishnu Deo Sai was chosen after a key meeting of the BJP’s newly-elected 54 MLAs in the state in Raipur. He won the Kunkuri Assembly seat with a total of 87,604 votes.

He served as the state president of the party for Chhattisgarh from 2020 until 2022. He was the Union Minister of State for Mines and Steel in the first PM Modi cabinet. He is highly regarded among tribal voters.

Meanwhile, Mohan Yadav became MLA for the first time in 2013 from Ujjain Dakshin’s seat and also served as cabinet minister in the state government headed by Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
In the 2018 Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly elections, he was once again elected and became MLA from the Ujjain Dakshin seat.

Madhya Pradesh will have two deputy chief ministers, namely Jagdisgh Devda and Rajesh Shukla.
Also today, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) picked Bhajanlal Sharma, a first-time MLA from the Sanganer assembly constituency, as the chief minister of Rajasthan.

Rajnath Singh and other party observers Vinod Tawde and Saroj Pandey held a meeting in which Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister and Rajasthan BJP Election in-charge Pralhad Joshi was also present.

The election results in four states, especially the losses in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, came as a huge blow to the Congress’s hopes for 2024, as it is now out of power across a vast swathe of the Hindi heartland.