2019 polls: BJP begins screening its MPS, many may not make the cut

NEW DELHI: Several sitting members of Parliament (MPS) of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may not make the cut when the party picks candidates for the next parliamentary elections due in 2019, two party leaders familiar with the development said, putting this proportion at over 15%.

The two leaders, who asked not to be identified, explained that this is, in part, because the party has decided to use a multipronged strategy, including crowd sourcing feedback on its sitting members of Parliament, to decide its slate of candidates.

Last month, a survey was started on the Namo App, the mobile app of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to elicit public feedback on how people rated their elected representative such as Lok Sabha members, one of the two said.

The data is being stored and will be shared internally at the opportune moment, he said.

“This is just one of the many exercises that will be undertaken in the run-up to the next Lok Sabha election to select the best candidates,” the second leader said.

The Prime Minister’s governance strategy depends a lot on crowd sourcing, the second leader said.

“He solicits responses on welfare schemes, other government programmes and even subjects that people would want to hear from the prime minister on his monthly radio programme,” the person said.

But this will be just one input in the approach the party will adopt for picking candidates.

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