Bengaluru: In the year 2004, when the then CM Uma Bharati resigned from the CM’s post and floated a separate party, political observers wrote off the BJP’s fortunes in Madhya Pradesh. It was assumed that Congress will snatch back the state from the BJP easily due to the division of votes. But it was the strategies adopted by party state in charge Ananth Kumar which saved the party. He was instrumental in bringing Shivaraj Singh Chouhan to the front. Since then he was the party in charge for all the assembly election in Madhya Pradesh. This year, following his poor health condition and his eventual death, the party was forced to select others.
A senior BJP leader from Karnataka said many of their counterparts in Madhya Pradesh informed him that they missed the strategies of Ananth Kumar. “At ground level, the party failed due to the absence of a strategist like Ananth Kumar. Party is feeling his absence severely,” he said.
“No one knew MP better than Ananth. His service will be now missed even in Karnataka,” he added.
