Modi, Union ministers feature in BJP’s list of star campaigners
JAIPUR: The latest list of candidates announced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Lok Sabha elections features names of chief ministers from five states, including Rajasthan as star campaigners, people familiar with the matter said.
During every election, some candidates (especially big names) are mentioned as star campaigners because the political parties feel they have more vote-fetching ability in the polls than others. A star campaigner can be a politician or a film star.
The latest list, released on Wednesday, has about 40 such names such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former CM and Jhalawar MLA Vasundhara Raje and former MLAs Rajendra Rathod and Satish Poonia.
While Modi’s name is at the top of this list, and national BJP chief JP Nadda is at number two.
The Union ministers who have been given the responsibility of campaigning in Rajasthan include Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Bhupendra Yadav, Arjunram Meghwal, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Kailash Choudhary.
The chief ministers of five states who will also campaign in support of the candidates, include Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel and Haryana CM Nayab Saini.
Many state leaders are also included in the list of star campaigners including former CM Vasundhara Raje along with state president CP Joshi, Rajya Sabha MPs Ghanshyam Tiwari and Rajendra Gehlot, former state party presidents Arun Chaturvedi and Satish Poonia and former leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore.
Besides, names of deputy CM Diya Kumari and Premchand Bairwa, sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and agriculture minister Kirodilal Meena are also mentioned. Among the BJP MLAs of the state, only Tijara MLA Baba Balaknath has been made the star campaigner.
The BJP has also made six Lok Sabha candidates from Rajasthan as star campaigners Arjun Ram Meghwal, candidate from Bikaner Lok Sabha seat, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat from Jodhpur, Bhupendra Yadav from Alwar, Om Birla from Kota, Kailash Chaudhary from Barmer and CP Joshi from Chittorgarh.