Himachal polls: BJP leadership for ‘new faces’

An enquiry from Prime Minister Narendra Modi about how many women candidates and “new faces” the BJP is fielding for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections, was apparently the reason behind the delay in the official release of candidate names by the party’s Central Election Committee. The party’s election committee had met last Saturday, which was also attended by Mr Modi but the official list of candidates is still awaited. Nominations for the November 9 election for the 68 Assembly constituencies began from Monday.

With its “Mission 50 plus” target for the upcoming elections, the BJP is confident of coming back to power in this hill state, which is currently under Congress rule. The Congress had won 36, while the BJP had managed to win only 26 Assembly seats during last polls.

BJP’s Himachal Pradesh unit is abuzz that the central leadership is in favour of fielding atleast 15 women candidates and giving opportunity to more “new faces”

With its ‘Mission 50 plus’ target for the upcoming polls, the BJP is confident of coming back to power in this hill state

this time. After the PM’s enquiry, the state core group leaders, sources said, were asked to “rework” on the names cleared by them. Some of the core group members are still camping in the national capital and holding consultations with the central leadership after Mr Modi’s enquiry. However, state leaders feel that it is “too late” to include more women candidates at this juncture. Significantly, speculation is rife that the Modi government is making efforts to get the Womens’ Reservation Bill passed in Parliament.

Sources disclosed that the party’s central leadership had indicated to its state leaders months back that it wants more “new faces” from within the organisation to be given chance this time, after surveys and feedback from the ground suggested that many sitting MLAs were facing antiincumbency.