Popular UP ministers may be asked to contest LS polls
A popular leader in his constituency, Satish Mahana is one of the few leaders who has steered clear of controversies in his entire career.
Lucknow: UP ministers who have passed the popularity test in their own constituencies in an internal survey conducted by the BJP, could now be asked to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The party has already shortlisted about 40 MPs who will not be given a ticket in 2019 and majority of them will be replaced by ministers form their own constituencies.
The MPs, who will be denied tickets, are those who are either overage or are unpopular in their constituencies.
“There are big stakes in the next Lok Sabha pollss and we need to improve our performance at all costs. If a legislator or a minister ranks high on the winnability meter, we will field him. The state government has enough legislators and can spare a few for the general elections”, said a senior party functionary.
According to highly placed sources, some of the ministers who could be asked to contest the Lok Sabha polls include Satish Mahana, a seven time MLA from Kanpur and now minister for industrial development.
A popular leader in his constituency, Satish Mahana is one of the few leaders who has steered clear of controversies in his entire career.
The party is also said to be planning to field ministers like Swatantra Dev Singh, Siddhartha Nath Singh, Dr Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Chetan Chauhan, Brijesh Pathak , Shrikant Sharma in the Lok Sabha elections.