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NEW DELHI: The BJP‘s first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections has thrown up several surprises. While 34 ministers have been retained, several MPs and even ministers have been dropped to make way for new faces. Here is a look at some of the factors that could have decided the names
Winnability
Winnability seems to be the biggest factor deciding the fate of several hopefuls in the party. The BJP has fielded two former chief ministers and some Rajya Sabha members to ensure that it can capitalise on their popularity. The party has never hesitated from switching leaders between states and Centre as per its need.
In the assembly elections last year, the party fielded several MPs in the three states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh to fight and possibility of anti-incumbency against the state leaders. Now in the national elections, former MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan who has always spearheaded state politics has been picked up to contest Lok Sabha elections.
In Jharkhand, ex-Congress MP Geeta Koda, who joined the saffron party just a week ago, has been fielded from a region where the BJP could not win any seat in the last assembly elections, to ensure that party has a good chance of winning the seat.
Party is supreme
The BJP has once again conveyed a strong message to its leaders that no one is above the party.
The trio of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and BJP chief J P Nadda have the party firmly in control. Several heavyweights who had hogged the limelight in last five years find their names missing from the first list.
This is unlike most of the other parties, where senior leaders or heavyweights are rarely pushed aside in the fear of rebellion or adverse results.
Hope for everyone
The BJP’s first list has several new faces. There are leaders who have not made headlines but have worked for the party. This is in line with the BJP’s trend of ignoring big names and picking up ordinary workers, a glimpse of which is seen in the selection of Padma awards by the CEntre in the last many years.
Dynasts -based parties
The BJP first list features names of some leaders who can be labeled as dynasts. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made the distinction clear between dynasty-based parties and dynasts. PM Modi had said kin of politicians can come into politics based on their hardwork but it is wrong to use lineage to keep control over the party. Bansuri Swaraj, stayed away from politics as long as Sushma Swaraj was alive. It was only after her mother’s untimely death that Bansuri took the political plunge.
No prima donnas
Everyone has a chance and anyone can be dropped. The BJP leadership under PM Modi believes in always shuffling the cards to keep everyone on their toes and guessing too. By nominating new faces, party manages to deny anti-incumbency, if there is any. Additional, a new face helps broaden the leadership pool and blunts anti-incumbency too.