New Delhi: On 2 March, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) introduced its first checklist of 195 candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha election through which 34 sitting MPs had been dropped. Five of them are from Delhi, the place the occasion faces a troublesome problem from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its chief Arvind Kejriwal.
The checklist additionally signifies that Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans, who received from North West Delhi in 2019, is more likely to be denied a ticket this time. The solely Delhi MP to retain seat is Manoj Tiwari, the Bhojpuri actor-singer and former Delhi BJP chief, who represents North East Delhi.
The different MPs who’ve been changed are former Union well being minister Harsh Vardhan (Chandni Chowk), Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi (New Delhi), cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir (East Delhi), former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma’s son and two-time MP Parvesh Verma (West Delhi), and Ramesh Bidhuri (South Delhi).
The occasion has determined to accommodate contemporary faces in all these seats, hoping to counter the anti-incumbency and the recognition of Kejriwal.
It was broadly believed that the BJP was punishing these controversial MPs like Bidhuri, who attacked fellow MP Danish Ali, or Verma, who made a number of controversial statements. But, the occasion sources stated that the choice was primarily based extra on efficiency, disconnect with voters, and incapacity to counter AAP’s progress in constituencies.
A senior Delhi BJP chief advised ThePrint that the Delhi meeting polls, that are scheduled in February, had been only a few months away after the Lok Sabha election and that “Prime Minister Modi’s biggest worry is Arvind Kejriwal.”
The chief added that regardless of the occasion’s hectic campaigning on the corruption subject and some of its successes in opposition to Kejriwal, “his image among the people is not dented”.
The complete Government of India is sitting in Delhi, the chief claimed, “but this important territory is out of the hand of the BJP, despite the BJP’s heavy political investment in Delhi.”
“We started the freebie narrative to counter Kejriwal’s Delhi model, but the BJP had to change its track after the Himachal and Karnataka setback. We first brought Manoj Tiwari as the Delhi BJP president to focus on the Purvanchal voters, then brought common karyakarta Adesh Gupta as president to fight at the micro level in small clusters and jhuggi jhopdis, which is Kejriwal’s biggest strength. But nothing changed the BJP’s fortune,” the BJP chief highlighted.
“We used all the experiments in Delhi. The party needs new faces and strategy in Delhi.”
According to a BJP insider, “Prime Minister Modi in one of the meetings asked the BJP leaders to look for options to change all seven MPs of Delhi, but Manoj Tiwari survived due to the non-availability of a good replacement candidate on his seat and his credibility among the Purvanchal voters.”
A second senior chief of the BJP election committee advised ThePrint that numerous elements and inputs resolve the ticket, however the largest criterion was winnability.
“In the survey, the voter connect of a few of the sitting MPs was low, workers were not happy, and they were found inaccessible to the public. But the party’s biggest worry was not only anti-incumbency, but their performance to check Kejriwal in their constituencies and its likely fallout impact in the next year’s assembly elections,” the chief highlighted.
“That is why new faces were introduced to check the anti-incumbency and bring fresh energy to counter Kejriwal.”
Despite Kejriwal’s consecutive victories in Delhi within the 2015 and 2020 meeting polls, the BJP protected its turf within the Lok Sabha polls by successful all seven seats in 2014 and 2019 courtesy the Modi wave. The win for the occasion got here regardless of dropping two meeting elections and the municipal polls in 2022.
A 3rd BJP senior chief stated that the occasion would shift its full consideration to the meeting election after the Lok Sabha polls. He stated that Parvesh Verma and Ramesh Bidhuri had been wanted for the Delhi project to problem Kejriwal.
“The party changed the work responsibilities of leaders according to the situation. Vishnu Deo Sai was not given a Lok Sabha ticket from Chhattisgarh in 2019, but became the state chief and the chief minister later, after the 2023 assembly polls. Politics is unpredictable and the party keeps adapting to the changing circumstances,” the chief advised ThePrint.
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Reasons for removing
Soon after the BJP checklist was introduced, Kejriwal focused the Delhi BJP MPs. He stated Delhi had gained nothing from the seven sitting BJP MPs as they “clapped” every time the work of his authorities was stalled by the Centre and the Lieutenant Governor.
The BJP sources stated that the largest criticism in opposition to East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir, New Delhi MP Meenakshi Lekhi, and North West Delhi MP Hans Raj Hans was inaccessibility to the voters and disconnect with the voters.
Harsh Vardhan, regardless of his humble nature, was fading, they stated. He is without doubt one of the longest-serving Delhi politicians after Madan Lal Khurana, Sahib Singh Verma, and V.Ok. Malhotra. The occasion needed a brand new face in his seat, they added.
“Bidhuri and Parvesh Verma were active, but the party was looking to assign them a Delhi organisational role and bring new faces to not give any chance to the AAP-Congress alliance on these seats,” one of many sources stated.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BJP denied tickets to solely two sitting MPs — East Delhi’s Mahesh Giri and North West Delhi’s Udit Raj. It repeated 5 sitting MPs and added two new faces — Gambhir in East Delhi and Hans in North West Delhi.
In 2024, apart from Manoj Tiwari, the BJP has denied tickets to all six sitting MPs (5 denied and Hans Raj Hans is in line to be denied a ticket).
Lekhi was changed by former international affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s daughter Bansuri Swaraj, who was elevated a yr in the past within the Delhi unit. Bansuri’s oratory talent and talent to get traction among the many youth had been the most important elements that labored in her favour.
The occasion changed Parvesh Verma with former mayor and Jat girl candidate Kamaljeet Sehrawat. Bidhuri was changed with one other Gurjar, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who received as an Independent in opposition to Kejriwal’s tide in 2020. Ramvir Singh Bidhuri lengthy political profession and meeting file had been valued.
Similarly, the occasion selected Praveen Khandelwal, who’s widespread amongst merchants of Chandni Chowk for his steady redressal conferences with central ministers in the previous few years, changing Harsh Vardhan who pale away after being faraway from the well being ministry amid the Covid disaster.
The second BJP chief quoted above stated that your complete choice was made holding in thoughts the meeting elections. “The BJP is looking forward to the assembly polls, and none of the BJP MLAs won in the constituencies of Meenakshi Lekhi, Harsh Vardhan, Parvesh Verma, and Ramesh Bidhuri in the 2020 state polls.”
The chief claimed that these MPs failed to make sure the victory of any MLA of their Lok Sabha constituency.
“The BJP has eight MLAs. Three won from East Delhi and three from Manoj Tiwari’s North East Delhi constituency. Ramvir Singh Bidhuri won on his own merit, and another won from North West Delhi. Even the (work) performance of these MPs was poor in the municipal polls,” the chief claimed.
In the 2022 MCD elections, he highlighted that in Meenakshi Lekhi’s constituency, out of 25 wards, the BJP received solely 5 — the worst in all constituencies. In West Delhi, Parvesh Verma’s constituency, the occasion received 13 wards out of 38. In Hans Raj Hans’ constituency, the occasion wrested 14 out of 43.
In Ramesh Bidhuri’s constituency, the occasion received 13 out of 37. And in Harsh Vardhan’s Chandni Chowk constituency, it clinched 16 out of 30 wards.
“The performance of Gambhir and Tiwari was better. The BJP won 22 wards out of 36 in East Delhi and 21 out of 41 in North East Delhi. These factors were also kept in mind for deciding the candidates, how these MPs performed to check the AAP and ensured the BJP’s victory in other polls, besides their activeness and anti-incumbency,” the chief added.
Tried & examined technique
It has been PM Modi’s tried and examined technique of changing sitting MLAs/MPs and even complete cupboards, like in Gujarat, to keep away from anti-incumbency. Modi began it with the municipal polls approach again in Gujarat throughout his chief ministerial days, the BJP insiders stated.
In 2017, the BJP changed its complete sitting councillors within the Delhi municipal polls and escaped the anti-incumbency of 15 years. However, the occasion failed to take action within the 2022 civic elections and misplaced to the AAP after dropping the meeting polls in 2020.
BJP sources stated that the occasion has denied tickets to extra sitting MPs in these states the place it faces a problem like Chhattisgarh the place the Congress shouldn’t be so weak; Assam, the place there’s a multi-party alliance; and Delhi, the place Kejriwal’s assist is undamaged.
In the BJP-ruled states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, the occasion didn’t exchange many sitting MPs, the BJP insiders added.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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