Modi set to seek re-election from Varanasi, hints BJP board
Union minister likely to be shifted out of her constituency in UP
LUCKNOW :Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to seek re-election from Varanasi though the second seat where the party wants him to contest isn’t certain as yet, party insiders said.
There was near unanimity in the BJP parliamentary board, which met in New Delhi on Friday, on Modi’s candidature from Varanasi, the insiders added. The contents of the meeting aren’t official yet.
“Modiji will contest from Varanasi again where the development work has come in for praise from all. But yes, the second seat isn’t clear. There are offers for him from across the country but of these some are important for different reasons. These include Puri in Odisha where BJP has never won, Bengaluru in Karanataka where BJP had its first government in south India. There are offers for him from Haridwar in Uttarakhand and of course, Gujarat, his home state,” a BJP leader said.
The party may shift a woman union minister, a veteran of many elections, to a Lok Sabha constituency outside Uttar Pradesh to pave the way for her son to be fielded from her traditional constituency in the western region of the state, party insiders said.“An informal decision has already been reached on the issue by party leaders who are part of the BJP parliamentary board, the highest decision making body,” a person familiar with the issue said. Union minister Uma Bharti, an MP from Jhansi, too has reportedly been talked out of her decision to not contest elections, party leaders privy to the development said.
Uma Bharti is well under 75 years but in December she had declared that she won’t contest the 2019 LS polls due to health reasons. However, on February 15 she had travelled to Jhansi for a rally by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who profusely praised her work as an MP, baring the party plan on veterans.
Soon after Bharati’s announcement in December against contesting elections, union minister Manoj Sinha, the MP from Ghazipur had publicly said he won’t contest LS polls if he was moved out of Ghazipur. “I will contest from Ghazipur or from nowhere,” Sinha had said in January apparently to preempt speculations on him being moved out of Ghazipur.