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Shah sets target for BJP MPs from UP: Win 3 assembly seats
NEW DELHI: BJP MPs from Uttar Pradesh now have a new target to chase: Winning three assembly seats each.
NEW DELHI: BJP MPs from Uttar Pradesh now have a new target to chase: Winning three assembly seats each.
BJP president Amit Shah has assigned this target to every Lok Sabha MP from the party during a meeting with them last month, a BJP source said.
India’s ruling party has 71 Lok Sabha MPs from Uttar Pradesh — the country’s most populous state that it swept in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. “There is logic behind the responsibility. If 71 MPs can win three assembly seats each, the BJP’s final tally would be 213. This is more than a clear majority,” a BJP leader explained.
The UP assembly has 403 seats, making 202 the half-way mark. “MPs have been asked to focus on all five to six assembly seats in their parliamentary constituency. But specific target is to win at least three of them,” the BJP leader said.
The second logic behind setting specific targets for each MP is to make them “accountable” for the BJP’s performance in the do-or-die battle next year. There is a concern within the BJP about personal anti-incumbency of the BJP MPs, some of whom may have not lived up to the expectations of the electorate. The party’s performance in each MP’s constituency, sources say, will influence the decision of giving them tickets to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
During his chief ministerial tenure in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi successfully implemented a strategy when many ‘non performing and unpopular’ MLAs — say over 40% — were dropped every election to minimise the impact of anti incumbency.
The ruling Samajwadi Party in UP has repeatedly targeted the BJP for doing little despite winning 71 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. Specific assignments are being given to each BJP MP, who will have to travel the length and breadth of the state over the next 5-6 months.
