BJP prospects: Babulal Gaur warns against tainted Ministers

In an interview to The Hindu, former Chief Minister and incumbent Urban Development Minister Babulal Gaur said that unless the BJP denies tickets to at least four Ministers and a fifth of the legislative party, the party may face a wipe out in the Assembly polls next month.

“Four to five Ministers and 30 to 40 MLAs have to be dropped. There is data and surveys to show who worked and how popular they are. There are Cabinet Ministers who have won with margins of less than 3000 votes. They must go,” he said.

During an interaction with this paper at his residence, soon after meeting former BJP CMs Kailash Joshi and Sunderlal Patwa, Mr. Gaur explained that anti-incumbency affects everyone, including a nine-time MLA like himself. “If a Minister has done well, re-nominate the person. But those who performed badly as Ministers, MLAs and have not kept promises must be dropped. Otherwise the party will suffer huge losses,” he explained.

Cabinet Ministers who won with margins of less than 3000 votes in 2008 include Jayant Mallayya, Anup Mishra, Ramkrishna Kusmariya and Ranjana Baghel. Minister of State with independent charge of agriculture Brijendra Singh also falls in this bracket. Mallayya and Mishra — former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee’s nephew — are being probed by the Lokayukta for corruption.

Mr. Gaur was CM between 2004 and 2005. He had to make way for Shivraj Chouhan due to resistance from former CM Uma Bharti. He said that dropped incumbents who turn into rebel candidates cannot do the party much damage. “The BJP and the CPI(M) are the only two parties where the organisation is stronger than the individual. Our voters choose the party first. A good candidate however can win by a large margin. (Former CMs) Yeddyurappa and Kalyan Singh had to come back,” he said.

Mr. Gaur chose not to mention his bête noire Uma Bharti, who split from the BJP in 2006 to form the Bharatiya Janshakti Party which won five seats in the 2008 polls. In 2011, the party merged with the BJP.

He said the law and order and, unemployment are the two biggest problems for the government. Unemployment stands at 22 per cent and the State reports the highest incidents of rape in India. Roughly 14 per cent of all rapes in India are reported here.

“The Ratangarh tragedy is going to cost us dearly, particularly in the Chambal. People will ask why the police did not do enough... (Union Minister Jyotiraditya) Scindia is from the region and he has a clean image. The Congress will gain from it,” he said.

Mr. Scindia is heading the Congress’ campaign committee for the Assembly polls. Mr. Gaur said that both Gujarat CM Narendra Modi — who is participating in the campaign in Bhopal — and Mr. Scindia are vying for the youth vote. There are more than 23 lakh first time voters in the State.

“This minority majority business is fiction. Wearing a skull cap or not is immaterial. Modi will attract new voters to the party, and I don’t see the loss of any vote bank. Scindia is also targeting this segment and he presents good opportunities for the Congress,” Mr. Gaur opined.