How BJP plans to beat anti-incumbency in poll-bound states

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already sounded poll bugle in many states ahead of Assembly polls scheduled in 2022 and it is drawing a plan to avoid anti-incumbency.

The saffron party is planning to play a tried-and-tested move to drop sitting legislators and field new faces to beat anti-incumbency. The party is planning to drop 50 per cent of MLAs in poll-bound states ahead of the Assembly polls, according to a report by the Hindustan Times.

Previously, the BJP had dropped 15-20 per cent of the sitting MLAs but this time the numbers are much higher due to the dissatisfaction from the public on a host of governance, a senior party functionary told the publication. In 2018, the party had dropped 43 sitting MLAs, including four ministers, in Rajasthan.

Recently, in a major overhaul, the party added 24 new faces to the Gujarat Cabinet led by CM Bhupendra Patel, following the resignation of Vijay Rupani. Similarly, Uttarakhand Cabinet was given a makeover after Tirath Singh Rawat resigned from the CM post, making way for Pushkar Singh Dhami to sit on the CM throne.

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Apart from Gujarat and Uttarakhand, Assembly elections will be held in Punjab, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, and Himachal Pradesh in 2022.

With the ‘Brand Modi’ taking a hit during the pandemic and the BJP facing setbacks in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, and a slendor victory in Bihar, the saffron party is leaving no stones unturned to lift up its popularity.

The BJP have been stressing on performance of the ministers, which is said to play a key role in deciding their future in the party. “In several states, the party has carried out ground surveys to assess the mood. MLAs were also asked to submit their report cards of the work done in the last five years, which were tallied with the party’s own findings. Those whose performance has not been up to the mark will not be repeated,” the functionary told the publication.

In the hunt for new faces to represent it, the BJP is said to survey the work of MLAs on the seva front during the Covid-19 pandemic. The party may also look to balance the caste equation while choosing candidates amid the growing debate around a caste-based census.

“The caste of a candidate has always been a key factor in deciding tickets,” another functionary told the publication, adding that the party “does not believe in appeasement of any caste.”

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