Will ex-babu prove to be BJP's trump card?

Ex-IAS officer O.P. Choudhury’ s entry into the BJP hints at the saffron party’s plan to deny the Cong an opportunity to play the OBC card in polls. He may contest Assembly and Lok Sabha polls and campaign extensively to influence youths.

Raipur: Young IAS officer O.P. Choudhury, who quit his high profile career to join BJP last week, was accorded a tumultuous reception, usually reserved for a party heavyweight, by the saffronites when he landed at the Swami Vivekanand airport in Raipur from Delhi on August 29.

The unusual manner in which the 35-year-old former bureaucrat, who had braved all odds to achieve his dream of becoming an IAS officer, was given a rousing welcome by BJP workers at the Raipur airport has generated interest among the political observers here.

The development has, interestingly, caused discomfiture in the Opposition Congress camp which saw a larger plan by the BJP leadership to successfully woo the young bureaucrat, an IAS office of 2005 batch, into the saffron fold ahead of forthcoming Assembly polls in the state, slated for end of this year.

For, Mr Choudhury, who belongs to the Agaria caste, coming under other backward class (OBC), is tipped to be projected as a “credible” OBC face of the BJP to deny the Congress an opportunity to play the OBC card in the Assembly polls.

Congress was banking on its two OBC leaders, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Bhupesh Baghel and campaign committee chairman of the state party Charandas Mahant, to woo the OBC voters who comprise around 50 per cent of the total voters in Chhattisgarh.

Sources said that the BJP was also mulling to cash in on the image of the former bureaucrat as development-oriented administrator to strengthen its key election plank of development.

Mr Choudhury had hogged national limelight when he conceived and established education hub in south Bastar district of Dantewada when he was the collector in the district around four years ago to ensure that tribal children in the conflict zone of Bastar, particularly those affected by Naxal violence, were not deprived of education.

BJP circles here are also rife with speculations that the party may field him from the Kharasia Assembly constituency in Raigarh district, which has remained with the Congress since independence. The BJP’s plan seems to be not only to wrest the seat from the Opposition party but also influence voters in half a dozen other surrounding Assembly constituencies in the polls.

Besides, the BJP is mulling to cash in on his humble background to spark an aura around him by projecting him as a leader who braved all odds to become an IAS officer by dint of his sheer hard work and chose to join the BJP.

Mr Choudhury, son of a primary school teacher, lost his father when he was in Class 2. His grandparents had brought him up and supported his education.

Interestingly, he unfolded the BJP’s game plan when he said, “This is the only party (BJP) where a ward member of Kawardha, Raman Singh, could become chief minister and a tea seller of Badnagar, Narendra Modi, could become Prime Minister”.

Chhattisgarh BJP president Dharamlal Kaushik has also dropped hints on the larger plan by the Central party leadership to woo the young civil servant to the party, saying, “How can a district collector be persuaded to quit his high profile career to join a party with the lure of mere a ticket for an assembly seat?”

He was reacting to a query if Mr Choudhury was wooed to the  BJP with the promise of fielding him in Kharasia Assembly constituency.

Sources said the party’s central leadership also plans to field him in the 2019 parliamentary elections and also use him as a key campaigner to influence the educated youth voters in the state during the polls.

The Congress played down the issue of the ex-bureaucrat joining the BJP. “We do not foresee any threat from Mr Choudhury in the polls. Rather, Mr Choudhury’s induction into the BJP has alarmed the senior as well as youth leaders in the ruling party who see the prospect of him being imposed on them by the Central leadership in future,”  Congress spokesman  in Raipur Sailesh Nitin Trivedy told this newspaper.

BJP sources too did not rule out the possibility of Mr Choudhury being groomed as the second line of leadership in the party considering his potential by the Central leadership.

“A majority of leaders in BJP in Chhattisgarh are above 60 years of age. The party leadership has failed to build the second line of leadership, particularly, by promoting youth leaders, in the last 15 years,” a BJP leader said.

“The party has hitherto banked on charisma of chief minister Raman Singh to win last three assembly polls. His charisma may not be enough to face a resurgent Congress in the year-end polls. Hence, the Central leadership was planning to build Mr Choudhury as second line leadership to avert a situation in which the party faces leadership crisis here in future and avoid  dynasty rule in the party,” the BJP leader told this newspaper.

Mid-career course correction

• Former IAS officer O.P. Choudhury, 35, has joined the BJP just months ahead of the crucial Assembly polls that the saffron party wants to win to retain power for a 4th term
• He revolutionised school eduction in Naxal-hit Dantewada
• The son of a school teacher is likely to be BJP’s OBC face and key campaigner
• Cong says the ex-babu’s political plunge is not a cause of concern. In fact, the development may upset the BJP’s old guard and  spark infighting