Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah (File).
New Delhi:
Seven union ministers whose Rajya Sabha terms end in April have not been re-nominated by the ruling BJP, prompting speculation Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s party may field them in the Lok Sabha election that is expected later the same month.
Among the big names absent are Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya (Gujarat), Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan (Madhya Pradesh), and junior IT Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar (Karnataka).
Also absent are Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav (Rajasthan), and Fisheries Minister Parshottam Rupala (Gujarat), as well as Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Minister Narayan Rane and junior External Affairs Minister V Muraleedharan, both of whom represented Maharashtra.
Sources have told NDTV all seven could now be fielded from Lok Sabha constituencies in various states.
Sources indicate Mr Pradhan may be fielded from Sambalpur or Dheknal in his home state of Odisha, while Mr Yadav may run from Rajasthan’s Alwar or Mahendragarh, and Mr Chandrashekhar could contest one of the four seats in Bengaluru; three of these – Central, North, and South – are held by the BJP.
Similarly, Mr Mandaviya may run from Bhavnagar or Surat in Guajrat, while Mr Rupala may get Rajkot. Mr Muraleedharan, meanwhile, may be fielded from his home state of Kerala; the BJP has no presence there, and may look to high-profile names to revive its fortunes.
The BJP has retained only a few big names, in fact, only two union ministers from the Rajya Sabha have been retained – Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw (Odisha) and junior Fisheries Minister L Murugan (Madhya Pradesh). No outgoing MP who has served two or more terms has been repeated.
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The only exception is party boss JP Nadda. He though, has been shifted – from Himachal Pradesh, which the Congress won in 2022, to Gujarat. It has also found space for new entrants, including former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, who quit the Congress this week.
Overall, it is all change for the BJP, with only four of 28 outgoing Rajya Sabha MPs renominated. The remaining 24 have reportedly been asked for their preference of Lok Sabha seats.
The party has named 28 candidates to the 56 seats that will fall vacant in April, with the focus on new faces and emphasising – to its leadership structure and the voters – its determination to recognise grassroots workers, even those who not known to the public, while also factoring in social equations.
A notable point is that three of the BJP’s new Rajya Sabha MPs – Dharmshila Gupta (Bihar), Medha Kulkarni (Maharashtra), and Maya Naroliya (Madhya Pradesh) – are associated with the women’s wing, in keeping with the PM’s emphasis on the higher approval the party enjoys among women voters.
The BJP’s strategy for the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha elections appears to mirror that for the five Assembly polls in November last year, when the party focused on “collective leadership” and selecting high-profile candidates – including fielding Lok Sabha MPs for state elections – to maximise outreach.
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The plan worked well. The BJP swept to power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, winning the latter two back from the Congress as it dominated its Hindi heartland stronghold.
The BJP is well into its Lok Sabha election prep mode. Party sources said, as early as last month, that National General Secretaries had begun meeting every week (on Tuesdays) to develop strategies, including candidate placement. At one such meet, attended by Home Minister Amit Shah and party boss JP Nadda, the party said it would target first-time voters, beneficiaries of central schemes, and voters from backward classes, as well as young people and women, as it bids for a third consecutive term.
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