BJP initiates constituency-wise survey to determine candidates for UP polls
According to highly placed sources in the party, the survey is being conducted by a private agency and the reports have started reaching national president Amit Shah without any intermediate steps
In Short
- BJP doing constituency-wise survey to identify candidates in UP.
- Only the winners would be given tickets.
- Survey being done by a private agency, sources said.
Even as the suspense over the new national unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) remains rife, the party has started constituency-wise survey to identify candidates in Uttar Pradesh (UP) in preparation of the upcoming assembly polls in 2017.
LEARNING FROM BIHAR
According to highly placed sources in the party, the survey is being conducted by a private agency and the reports have started reaching national president Amit Shah without any intermediate steps. Sources added that taking a cue from the Bihar poll debacle, in which such surveys had been conducted but the state unit had a say in the final ticket distribution, this time around state unit president Keshav Prasad Maurya would only be putting his final initials on the lists finalised by Shah.
TICKETS
Also, in UP, the high command has decided that only those would be given tickets who would emerge winners in the survey. Sources told Mail today that the party was confident of passing the 250 seat mark in an assembly of 403 if only the right candidates were given tickets through a cautious and careful process of selection??.
CM CANDIDATE
Meanwhile, the party has not been able to zero-in on its chief ministerial candidate for the UP polls. According to a number of party insiders in all likelihood the party would enter the UP poll fray without a chief ministerial face. While rumours had been rife about Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh taking the baton in UP during the Allahabad national executive meet, the talks had died down as fast as they had been aired.
According to some in the party, Singh was still being pursued for leading the partys charge against the Samajwadi Party. BJP considers SP and not the Bahujan Samaj Party as its chief contender but to no avail.
The party, however, in the eyes of political observers, would be happy at Congress having started its campaign in the state as many consider that a resurgent Congress would mean good news for the BJP as it would only damage the Dalit, Muslim vote banks of SP and BSP.
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