PARTY ACTIVISTS WANT AMIT SHAH TO CONTEST LOK SABHA POLLS

many places are of the opinion that he should make his debut to the House of the People. Although the National Executive of the party recently endorsed Shah’s continuation as the BJP chief till the 2019 elections, yet his supporters are looking at politics beyond that. They are of the firm conviction that even the government can benefit from his vast experience and administrative acumen.

Sources said that while there are seats in every state that he can represent, Shah’s many admirers have started mentioning certain constituencies which would enable him to both contest as well as provide him sufficient time to monitor the polls pan India. For instance, there are indications that if he agrees to get fielded from Gujarat, it could be from either Ahmedabad East, currently represented by actor Paresh Rawal or Vadodara from where Ranjanben Dhananjay Bhatt was elected last time. If it is Uttar Pradesh, the choice may narrow down to Lucknow, Mathura or Ghaziabad. Incidentally, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had won from Lucknow in 2014 and currently cine superstar Hema Malini is the MP from Mathura. The Ghaziabad seat is at present represented by General (Retd) V.K. Singh, who is also the Minister of State for External Affairs under Sushma Swaraj.

Shah has so far been, in electoral terms, the most successful BJP president. After the party took a decision to replace Anandiben Patel in Gujarat, Shah was keen to go to the state as the Chief Minister. However, Prime Minister Modi shot down the proposal and during a Parliamentary Board meeting to decide on Anandiben’s successor, at the very outset made it clear that Shah could not be made available as he was needed for party work. It is another matter that Vijay Rupani, who finally got the position, was Shah’s nominee.

There is serious contemplation as well to drop some of the sitting Lok Sabha MPs so as to bring in fresh faces. Intense speculation continues to do the rounds regarding senior party leaders elected in 2014, but who were sidelined to the Marg Darshak Mandal by the top leadership. The grapevine, in party circles, is that BJP patriarch L.K. Advani is eager that his daughter Pratibha contests from his traditional Gandhinagar seat, while some cen- tral leaders would prefer his son Jayant to be the candidate hoisted from there. There is uncertainty on whether Dr Murli Manohar Joshi would seek a re-election from Kanpur although the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is regarded as backing him and wanting him, to once again, throw his hat in the ring.

Whether the BJP president will contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls or not will be decided by the Prime Minister and Amit Shah, not the party cadre. Their suspense over the issue will persist, till the party categorically clarifies the matter closer to the elections.