Even as the euphoria over BJP’s massive win in Indore as well as 28 out of 29 Lok Sabha constituencies in Madhya Pradesh was at its peak, posters hailing BJP national general secretary and the party's West Bengal in-charge Kailash Vijayvargiya as ‘tiger of MP’ gave a new twist to politics in the state.
Vijayvargiya is being considered as one of the main architects of BJP’s stunning victory in 17 constituencies of West Bengal. Given his second big success after ushering in the BJP government in Haryana with comfortable majority in 2014 as the in-charge there, Vijayvargiya’s stature within party has certainly grown manifold at the national level.
However, the soaring success of the Indore-based politician spells a different meaning in the politics of Madhya Pradesh, observers feel.
This is especially so as the murmurs of Congress government in the state facing heat following thumping return of BJP-led government at the Centre are still going strong. The Congress government has a thin majority in the assembly with the support of two BSP, one SP and four independent MLAs.
In such a scenario, the most interesting aspect of the posters cropping up in Indore after BJP’s resounding win in West Bengal as well as MP was the use of word ‘tiger’.
Former MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, whose equations with Vijayvargiya are not too comfortable, had used the word ‘tiger’ for himself after the 2018 assembly defeat.
In his last address to party workers from the CM House, Chouhan had used the phrase ‘Tiger abhi zindaa hai’ (the tiger is still alive) and then repeated it often later, even during Lok Sabha election campaigns.
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Political observers feel that Vijayvargiya is slated for a big reward from the party leadership because of his record of success in Haryana and West Bengal. This could either mean a bigger role in central leadership of the party or even a big comeback in Madhya Pradesh politics. “Though the party might not decide to rock Congress government’s boat immediately in MP, it might come sooner or later and Vijayvargiya might certainly be one of the frontrunners for chief minister’s post here,” senior journalist Manish Dixit said.
Vijayvargiya was a state cabinet minister for a long time in MP until he was shifted to the central fold of the party in 2014, before Haryana polls. His MLA mantle in Indore was taken over by son Akash Vijayvargiya in 2018 assembly polls, but the leader’s interest in MP politics is palpable.
He has been commenting on the possible short life of the Congress-led government in state for some time now. After the exit polls predicted the return of BJP government in the Centre, Vijayvargiya targeted MP CM Kamal Nath saying the latter should worry whether his government would continue in the state 22 days after the poll results.
Now, with a bigger stature with the crafting of West Bengal stunner, Vijayvargiya certainly has become a more important peg in the MP politics that is set to witness considerable changes in the near future.
