THE BJP is in a dilemma over fielding a candidate against Congress president Sonia Gandhi for the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat.The seat fell vacant after Sonia Gandhi resigned from the Lok Sabha over the issue of holding office of profit.
There is nobody in the BJP to match the charisma and popularity of Sonia Gandhi. The Nehru-Gandhi name is enough to win the election in Rae Bareli. It was only Raj Narain, who had defeated the late Indira Gandhi, after the infamous days of the Emergency. But even Raj Narain had lost to Indira Gandhi, though her election was held invalid by the Allahabad High court on technical grounds.
The state BJP leaders are tight-lipped about the ongoing process of selection of a so-called ‘unanimous’ candidate for Rare Bareli, mainly because they have none.
The various names, which are being floated by the party, are dropped for obvious reasons. The leaders admit in private conversion that they had no potential contestant who could even give a weak fight to Sonia Gandhi.
owever, the party is not ready to give up easily. Their dilemma is clearly evident from the fact that Vinay Katiyar, a blue-eyed boy of BJP president Raj Nath Singh, who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in the biennial elections, has refused to contest against Sonia. His stand is justified that why should he fight a battle that will end in his defeat.
{{/usCountry}}owever, the party is not ready to give up easily. Their dilemma is clearly evident from the fact that Vinay Katiyar, a blue-eyed boy of BJP president Raj Nath Singh, who was recently elected to the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in the biennial elections, has refused to contest against Sonia. His stand is justified that why should he fight a battle that will end in his defeat.
{{/usCountry}}According to the BJP sources, Ajay Pal Singh, Raja of Arkha, is keen to fight against Sonia Gandhi. Ajay, who was the BJP nominee in the last Vidhan Sabha elections in Rae Bareli, lost the election.
The name of Major BB Singh, general secretary of the BJP’s Army Cell, is also being floated by the party leaders. He, too, will contest for name sake.
State BJP president Keshari Nath Tripathi said a final decision on this issue would be taken by the party high command. He had simply recommended a few names to the party leaders, he added.
Another senior BJP leader said that the party did not have a candidate who could match Sonia Gandhi and regretted that the opposition failed to field a joint candidate against her. He accepted the fact that anybody, who would contest against Sonia Gandhi, would be defeated.