Gujarat CM Narendra Modi and the BJP thinktank on Monday decided to send three observers to each district to meet aspirants vying for party tickets for the two-phase polls in December.
The move is also aimed at reaching out to grassroots leaders and workers in view of the changed dynamics following redrawing of constituencies under the delimitation exercise.
More than 60 of the 182 constituencies have undergone demographic changes, altering political scenarios.
Each of the three-member observer teams will have a woman representative and visit the districts from October 18-22.
“The party’s local leaders and workers across all 33 districts and city units have been asked to present their views before the observers,” BJP leader Purushottam Rupala said. He added that the state parliamentary board would hold discussions after the observers submitted their report.
More than 24 BJP legislators, six of them ministers, have been affected by delimitation. Some of them have seen their pocket boroughs merged with neighbouring seats, while the others have lost their turfs to reservation of seats for SCs and STs.
All these incumbent legislators are now hunting for safe seats. The BJP will also have to tackle the large number of ticket aspirants. “There are at least 10 contenders for each constituency,” said a party leader.
{{/usCountry}}All these incumbent legislators are now hunting for safe seats. The BJP will also have to tackle the large number of ticket aspirants. “There are at least 10 contenders for each constituency,” said a party leader.
{{/usCountry}}“At least 24 councillors, besides local leaders are competing for tickets for the 20 seats in Ahmedabad,” he said, adding there was a similar problem in Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.