BJP to put up candidate against Sonia

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary board has decided to field a candidate, albeit reluctantly, against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in the by-election to the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat on May 8.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the BJP central election committee after several senior leaders argued that the party had to field a candidate in the face of an open challenge posed by Uma Bharati rather than Gandhi herself.

"The result of the Rae Bareli by-election is a foregone conclusion, and had Bharati not announced that she would be setting up a candidate against Gandhi, the BJP could have opted for a goal-less draw, but not now," said a senior party leader.

Bharati had asked the BJP to support her candidate against Gandhi and at that time, BJP chief Rajnath Singh had announced that the party would be putting up its own candidate.

"When we have thrown the open challenge, then we have to follow through," argued Singh in the meeting.

The actual candidate has not been finalised, with the state unit having to be taken into confidence on the issue.

"The CEC has authorised the BJP chief in consultation with the state unit to finalise the candidate," said M Venkaiah Naidu. The party also wants to avoid supporting a Samajwadi Party candidate in the constituency.

"If it becomes a straight SP vs Gandhi fight then the BJP will appear marginal on the scene, why should we give mileage to the SP?" said another senior leader. The hunt is now on to find a candidate who would not mind losing an essentially prestige fight in Rae Bareli.

"Whoever fights will probably lose his/her deposit. Its just a question of finding the person who can afford to lose," said a senior leader. It's a far cry from the Bellary days for the BJP when Sushma Swaraj's fiery campaign had forced Gandhi to spend more time campaigning in her own constituency.