To ward off anti-incumbency in Jatland, the BJP intends to replace most of its sitting MP’s with new faces.
Haryana with 10 parliamentary seats will see new BJP leaders in the poll fray on nearly 7 seats, it is learnt.
The saffron party’s recipe to change the majority of its MP’s with new faces was discussed at a recent meeting of its election committee. Performance of many of its MP’s in Haryana has arguably been lacklustre. The party’s performance in the Lok Sabha polls is crucial in the state of Haryana given that assembly elections too will be held later this year.
The BJP in Haryana facing anti-incumbency could at least win the battle of perception in the assembly polls in case of a good showing by the party in the Lok Sabha elections. BJP won seven MP seats in 2014.
Media baron and MP from Karnal, Ashwani Sharma, is unlikely to get a party ticket this time around. Sharma, who is reportedly not keeping good health, is seeking a ticket for his wife from Karnal. Union minister Maneka Gandhi too is keen on testing waters from Karnal. The names of actor Sunny Deol and turncoat former parliamentarian Arvind Sharma, who formally joined the BJP in New Delhi last week, were discussed for the Rohtak seat.
Singer Hans Raj Hans is also being talked about as a candidate from Sirsa. The BJP may also replace its sitting MP from Ambala. As of now, the two sitting BJP MP’s who are more likely to get party ticket are union minister Rao Inderjeet from Gurugram and union minister Krishan Pal Gujjar from Faridabad. The seat from Kurukshetra is up for grabs. BJP’s sitting Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini has turned a rebel and floated his new political outfit.
Recent civic poll results and the party’s convincing win in the Jind by-poll have come as a shot in the arm for the BJP. In Jat-dominated Haryana, the strategy of the party has been to polarize non-Jat votes to cement its base. The BJP now also faces a weak principal opposition party- INLD- after its split owing to a family feud.
Published 20 March 2019, 12:31 IST