The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has released the list of candidates for by-elections on nine seats in eight states. The party has left one seat in Bihar for its alliance partner Upendra Kushwaha. The party has nominated Kiran Chaudhary from the electoral state of Haryana, while Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have been chosen to send two Union Ministers George Kurien and Ravneet Singh Bittu to the Rajya Sabha. What was the formula for selection of candidates for the Rajya Sabha by-elections in the BJP and what were the reasons behind giving tickets?
The name of Ravneet Singh Bittu from BJP was in discussion for the by-election on the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by the resignation of Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda. Assembly elections are also to be held in the state on October 1. In such a situation, the party later changed its mind so that there is no harm in making Bittu, who comes from Punjab, a candidate. The name of Tarun Bhandari, a close aide of former CM Manoharlal Khattar, was also discussed. Former Panchkula Mayor Bhandari is credited with the victory of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan despite the numbers game not being in his favour in Himachal Pradesh.
A look at Bansi Lal’s legacy: Jat stalwarts like Captain Abhimanyu, OP Dhankar, Ranjit Singh Chautala were also said to be in the race for the ticket. Along with Kuldeep Bishnoi, the party’s Dalit faces in the state, Ashok Tanwar and Banto Kataria were also in the race for the Rajya Sabha berth, but Kiran Chaudhary won. If BJP has made Kiran Chaudhary the candidate by ignoring so many big faces in the party, then there is a logic behind it. BJP, which focuses on non-Jat politics in Haryana, is eyeing to take advantage of Bansi Lal’s legacy this time on the face of Kiran Chaudhary.
Jat Vote Bank: This time BJP’s strategy is to make inroads into the Jat vote bank. BJP hopes that due to Congress’s over-reliance on Bhupendra Singh Hooda, non-Jat castes will rally in its favour. In such a situation, if even a few Jat votes come to it on Kiran’s face, then its path to power in the state can become easy. It is worth noting that the state has about 25 percent Jat population.
Women voters: Kiran Chaudhary is a female face and has been in active politics for a long time. BJP, which is taking the Nari Shakti Vandan Act to women voters as an achievement, also has a strategy to send Kiran to the Rajya Sabha to send a message that the party is also working to give representation to women.
BJP has given ticket to Union Minister George Kurien from Madhya Pradesh and Ravneet Singh Bittu from Rajasthan. There were many contenders for the ticket in both the states. In such a situation, questions are also being raised whether BJP has given ticket to an outsider to balance the local equations? Talking about Madhya Pradesh, after being elected to the Lok Sabha, Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from the Rajya Sabha membership.
There were many strong contenders for the ticket: From former ministers Narottam Mishra and Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya to Suresh Pachauri, many big names were in the race for the ticket from the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by Scindia’s resignation. KP Yadav, Chaudhary Mukesh Singh Chaturvedi, Rajneesh Aggarwal and Kantdev Singh, who defeated Scindia, who was then a Congress candidate, in the 2019 general elections, as well as former Union Minister Suresh Pachauri, who came from Congress, were also contenders for the ticket.
Fear of infighting: There was no consensus on any of the names of the local contenders. Leaders were expressing displeasure over one name and workers over another. Arguments were being given that if someone is fielded, the caste equations will be disturbed, while if someone else is fielded, there were apprehensions of internal conflict. Keeping all this in mind, BJP fielded George Kurien from Kerala instead of a local face.
Factionalism: From Jyoti Mirdha to Satish Punia, Rajendra Rathore and Arun Chaturvedi, big names were in the race for a ticket for a seat in Rajasthan. To prevent factionalism from taking root, BJP fielded Ravneet Singh Bittu, who hails from Punjab, for the by-election.
The Sri Ganganagar factor: The Sikh community has a good influence in Sri Ganganagar and the surrounding areas of Rajasthan bordering Punjab. By sending Bittu to the Rajya Sabha, the party is confident of solving the political maths of this area.
brahmin face BJP has fielded Manan Kumar Mishra from Bihar. Supreme Court lawyer Manan is a Brahmin face and hails from Gopalganj in the state. The party has fielded an upper caste face on its symbol.
Why did he leave the seat for Kushwaha? BJP has also tried to woo OBCs by leaving one seat for its alliance partner RLM chief Upendra Kushwaha. Along with Rituraj Sinha, former Union Minister RK Singh was also vying for the ticket from two seats in Bihar.
Dissatisfaction of Koeri voters: Upendra Kushwaha belongs to the Koiri caste and is considered to be a leader who has strengthened Luv-Kush (Koiri-Kurmi) along with Nitish Kumar in the state politics. There is also talk of resentment in the Koiri community over the candidature of Pawan Singh, who was an executive member of Bihar BJP, from Karakat seat in the general elections. The population of Koiri-Kushwaha in Bihar is about 10 percent, which is the highest after Yadav among OBC castes.
Decrease in support of Koiri community: According to CSDS-Lokniti, in the recent Lok Sabha elections, 67 percent of the voters of Koiri-Kurmi community voted for NDA, which is 12 percent less than the 79 percent votes received in 2019. In contrast, the parties of India Block, which were able to get 10 percent votes from this class in the last election, got 19 percent votes this time. Talking about the Bihar assembly elections of the year 2020, the Koiri (Kushwaha) community gave 51% votes to the NDA and the opposition grand alliance could get only 16 percent support
RJD’s focus on Koeri vote: After the slight increase in support in the general elections, RJD appointed Abhay Kushwaha as the leader of the party’s parliamentary party in the Lok Sabha, giving a message that its focus is now on this vote bank. Alerted by this, BJP has started working on a strategy to mobilize the angry Kushwaha voters in its camp again before the assembly elections to be held next year.
Assembly elections are due in Maharashtra in a few months. In the election year, the Maratha reservation movement has become a cause of trouble for the government. Manoj Jarange Patil, who is leading the Maratha reservation movement, has opened a front against the state’s Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, calling him anti-reservation. In such an environment, the BJP has fielded Dhairyasheel Patil on one of the Rajya Sabha seats vacated by the resignation of Udayan Bhosale and Piyush Goyal. This decision is being seen as a strategy to kill three birds with one stone.
Maratha card: Dhairyasheel Patil also belongs to the Maratha community. BJP had to suffer a loss of seats in Maharashtra in the recent general elections. In such a situation, BJP, which is cautious about the assembly elections, is trying to minimize the resentment of the Maratha community. As part of this strategy, the party has played the Maratha card.
Konkan Region: If the Maratha card was the only region, then BJP had all the Maratha leaders including Raosaheb Danve. BJP’s strategy is to correct the maths of Konkan region through Dhraysheel. There are 39 seats in this region. This area has been a stronghold of Shiv Sena.
Message to the leaders: Dhraysheel had left PWP last year and joined BJP. By sending Ashok Chavan and now Dhraysheel Patil to Rajya Sabha, the party has given a message to the leaders of other parties that even those who come from outside are respected in the party.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)