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Gearing up for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership is planning to make major changes in the constituencies of some of the senior leaders who will contest from Uttar Pradesh.
To start with, BJP’s central leadership is evaluating Kanpur and Allahabad as possible constituencies for Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi. The party leadership is hoping that the presence of Modi will help revive BJP in Uttar Pradesh where it has won just 10 of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies both in 2009 and 2004.
Allahabad is seen as a politically prestigious constituency which has given three Prime Ministers to the country, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and VP Singh. Filmstar Amithabh Bachchan had also won from Allahabad in 1984 general election. “The BJP leadership may not be unanimous in projecting Narendra Modi as the Prime Ministerial candidate but the party is facing tremendous pressure from the cadre in Uttar Pradesh who want the Gujarat chief minister as the leader of National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Our cadre in Uttar Pradesh wants Narendra Modi to contest from the state,” said a senior BJP leader who is aware of the developments.
Interestingly, the party leadership was keen to make Modi contest from Varanasi but the plan stalled when former party President Murli Manohar Joshi came to know of it. Joshi, who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) from Varanasi, announced in Varanasi that there will be no change in the candidate and he will contest from the city in 2014 also.
BJP members further elaborated on the possibility that party President Rajnath Singh could change his constituency from Ghaziabad to Lucknow, a seat which has been pride of the party as former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had won the seat for five consecutive terms from 1991 to 2004 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP President is also likely to give his son,
Pankaj Singh, a chance to contest from Chandauli constituency, which is adjacent to Varanasi .
Senior leaders of the party are looking for a suitable Lok Sabha seat for Lalji Tandon who represents Lucknow in Lok Sabha.
Another BJP heavyweight candidate in Uttar Pradesh, Varun Gandhi, who has been recently elevated as the general secretary could see a change in his constituency. BJP leaders want Varun Gandhi to contest from Sultanpur, which shares its border with Amethi – the constituency of Congress party Vice President Rahul Gandhi. The newly appointed BJP general secretary and his mother Maneka Gandhi have together represented Pilibhit for the past five Lok Sabha terms. “Varun Gandhi is no doubt among the most popular leaders of BJP in Uttar Pradesh,” said a BJP leader who handled the state during assembly election in 2012.
BJP leadership is also thinking to make Uma Bharati, former chief minister Madhya Pradesh, to contest from Jhansi. Bharati has been recently appointed Vice President of the party and had earlier contested from assembly election in Uttar Pradesh from Charkhari. “Uma Bharati has been associated with Uttar Pradesh because of Ram temple issue and Jhansi is also close to Madhya Pradesh which will help her perform well in the general election,” the BJP leader added.
Among the other BJP leaders who will see a change in their constituencies are Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who is likely to contest from Amroha and former BJP state President Surya Pratap Shahi is expected to contest from Deoria seat which also shares its border with Bihar.
