BJP to deny tickets to MPs, members of same family for polls in 5 states
The announcement comes amid reports that a number of senior leaders, including lawmakers and legislators, have sought tickets for their children in the elections that will take place next month
The Bharatiya Janata Party will not give tickets to sitting MPs to contest the upcoming assembly elections in five states and will also not entertain pleas for tickets to multiple people from the same family, a person familiar with developments said on Sunday.
According to the senior party functionary, the party will follow its principle of not giving tickets on the basis of kinship alone and will stick to “merit and performance”. The rule will not apply to the existing legislators who also have family members in a state assembly or Parliament.
The announcement comes amid reports that a number of senior leaders, including lawmakers and legislators, have sought tickets for their children in the elections that will take place next month in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Goa, Uttarakhand and Punjab. In Goa for instance, former Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar’s son, Utpal is staking claim to contest from Panaji.
The BJP has already released its first list of 107 candidates for the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh -- to be held between February 10 and 14. In that list, 20 sitting legislators have been left out. The party targets opposition parties including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party for fostering dynastic politics and for overlooking party workers for top jobs in their party’s hierarchy.
On the speculation that Aparna Yadav, daughter-in-law of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav will be joining the BJP to contest the upcoming election in UP, the leader said her joining is not incumbent on her getting a seat of her choice. If she joins, the decision on her candidature, including the constituency, will be the party leadership’s prerogative, the leader said.
Asserting that the party would cross 300 seats in the 403 member UP legislative assembly, the leader indicated that the party’s performance will not be affected by recent defections -- three OBC leaders and a bunch of legislators recently quit the party alleging it has not done enough for the betterment of socially and economically marginalised sections.
The leader said contrary to the claims of these leaders, the BJP has managed to gain a foothold in these communities and their exit will not dent the party’s performance. The leader also ruled out an alliance with Babu Singh Kushwaha’s party in UP.
Union home minister Amit Shah is likely to tour Uttar Pradesh in the third week of January; the schedule for his programmes is still being worked out, officials said. On Saturday the election commission barred political parties from holding gatherings and rallies till January 23, in the wake of the raging Covid pandemic.
