BJP leadership can couch in comfort for successfully sorting out the rigamarole, that was selecting the chief ministers in the heartland states. BJP trudged away from norms and picked up unpopular faces, surprising the populace while stunning the media and political analysts. The selection was not any random pick, but something of a toiling work by the leadership, to assure that the party receive dividends in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The party found 59-year-old Vishnu Deo Sai as the chief minister of Chhattisgarh. This is the first time that a tribal has become the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh. Through Vishnu Deo Sai, the BJP has squeezed into the tribal bastions of the state. A staunch RSS sevak in his earlier years, Deo Sai will affirm the Hindutva line, and will possibly change the political dimension of the state.

He has also held the post of state BJP president twice. Sai's election will also help strengthen BJP's influence among tribal. In this election, the party was able to win seventeen of the 29 tribal reservation constituencies. “Vote him to power, we will make him a great man” These were words that came out from Union Home Minister Amit Shah while he campaigned for Deo Sai in Kunkuri village.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who flourished as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for seventeen years, was replaced by the central leadership at the last minute. BJP wants to groom a new set of leaders and this time in MP, they cleverly opted for an OBC face and an established leader in Mohan Yadav. Yadav was sitting in the back row during the announcement and the shock in his face was palpable. As per journalists, apart from PM Modi, Amit Shah, Nadda and Rajnath Singh, nobody will have any knowledge about the intricate matters getting discussed inside BJP. The saffron party wants to bring a new level of leadership to the forefront. To make this a reality, the BJP power duo of Modi and Shah will remain taciturn to the emotions and clout of popular state leaders. In Madhya Pradesh, Yadav, who is very popular among MLAs is expected to walk a new path of development, a needed change from the Chouhan era.

Having elevated a tribal leader in Chhattisgarh and an OBC man in Madhya Pradesh, the central leadership had to sweat hard to find a new leader in Rajasthan. Popular media predicted a return of Rajamata Vasundhara Raje at the helm at Rajasthan. As usual, BJP gave a stunner by selecting debutant MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma as the CM of the state. Among the three CMs selected, Bhajan Lal will have the title of the dark stallion. Nobody including Bhajan Lal had any clue about the happenings. Fifty-six-year-old Bhajan Lal Sharma, despite not being a well-known leader, is a Brahmin face that will make Rajasthan a walkover state for BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.

Sharma, a Brahmin had served as Rajasthan BJP secretary for a decade. The leadership was also able to silence the critics within the party by extending the term of Chief Minister to Sharma, who is very good at organizational work.

BJP with the stunning CM selection has given a message. Popular leaders will have their place and will be respected, but newcomers will rule.