New Delhi: With the “Mahagathbandhan”, or Grand Alliance, taking shape, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to be in a fix over announcing the second list for the Uttar Pradesh polls. Unable to take a decision on selection of candidates, the BJP is waiting for the Samjwadi Party to come up with its list.
The party is also worried after it’s back channel talks with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) collapsed. Sensing that the Jat vote bank, which overwhelmingly voted for the BJP in the 2014 general elections, had switched back to Ajit Singh-led RLD, the BJP had started back channel talks for a possible alliance. The RLD has rejected the BJP’s overtures, people familiar with the mater said.
The BJP has drawn a list of three candidates for each Assembly berth. Depending on the SP’s candidates, the BJP leadership will select its nominees from the list of three.
The BJP was also facing trouble in Assembly berths such as Allahabad, Lucknow and Varanasi. In Allahabad, BJP entrant Rita Bahuguna is demanding a ticket for her son, Mayank. A fight is also on between BJP leaders Lalji Tandon and Kalraj Mishra for tickets for their sons from one of the Assembly berths in Lucknow, and a tug-of-war is raging between Apna Dal and BJP for some of the Assembly seats in Varanasi region.
In Allahabad, long-time BJP loyalists are vehemently against giving ticket to Rita Bahuguna’s son from Allahabad region.
On Wednesday, slogans were raised in the BJP office against giving tickets to “turncoats”. Slogans such as “SP ke nahin, BJP walon ko ticket do (don’t give tickets to SP but to BJP loyalists)” were also raised outside the Akbar Road residence of party national president Amit Shah.
BJP workers from Dadri, Jewar and Noida protested Wednesday against the party’s decision to give tickets to turncoats. Around noon the BJP workers first gathered at DND flyway on Delhi-Noida border and began shouting slogans against Mahesh Sharma, Gautam Budh Nagar MP and Union minister of state for tourism and culture.
They also burnt his effigy on the flyway before leaving for Delhi. The workers carried placards saying “bahri pratyashiyon ka ticket vapis lo (withdraw candidature of outsiders)”. They later marched to the BJP headquarters in New Delhi.
In the first list, the BJP has given tickets to over 10 political functionaries who swtiched over to BJP from SP and Bahujan Samaj Party. Some of the prominent ones include Pakshalika (wife of former SP leader Aridaman Singh), and former SP leader Omvati Devi.
