40 BJP MPs in UP may not get 2019 Lok Sabha tickets
PM Narendra Modi, at a recent meeting, had asked the MPs to stay connected with people and work for the implementation of party programmes.
Lucknow: About 40 of the 71 BJP MPs from Uttar Pradesh are likely to lose their tickets for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections if they do not show any improvement in their performance in the coming months.
Highly-placed sources in the BJP said the party was determined to repeat its 2014 success in the next Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh and the popularity of the Yogi Adityanath government is making things easier.
However, the party feels “non-performing MPs” could prove to be a major liability for the party. So without wasting any time, it has already started making plans for the 2019 elections, in which UP is crucial as it gave a majority to the BJP for government formation in 2014 with 71 MPs.
“There are MPs whom we have identified for not performing well in their constituencies. They have lagged behind in spending MPLAD funds and are not active on social media. They do not even stay in their constituencies for 21 days a month, as directed by the Prime Minister. We are regularly taking feedback from their constituencies and these MPs may not get tickets in the next election”, said a senior party leader.
The top party leadership, after the victory in the UP Assembly polls, had directed senior party leaders to prepare a list of MPs who have earned a negative image for themselves and may not be able to win the next election. “About 40 MPs have been asked to improve their performance in the coming months, but there are two dozen MPs who will not be given tickets due to their extremely poor performance” the leader added.
Sources said in the past three months, about 15 of the MPs in the danger zone had started showing signs of improvement and their image in their constituencies is also getting better. PM Narendra Modi, at a recent meeting, had asked the MPs to stay connected with people and work for the implementation of party programmes. “We have told the MPs that since we have our government in the state too this time, the people will not take any excuses for poor performance. These MPs may have won on the Modi wave in 2014 but we will make sure their work gets them re-elected this time”, the leader added.
Interestingly, the majority of the non-performing MPs in the list belong to eastern UP, and chief minister Yogi Adityanath has also been asked to keep an eye on these MPs and take feedback from their areas.