NEW DELHI: Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaves no opportunity to take a dig at the Congress over dynasty politics, its own search for ‘new faces’ in the upcoming Assembly polls has ended with political families.
In all the three key states going to polls — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — the BJP has favoured kin of political leaders in ticket distribution.
“We’ve given tickets to 25 new faces in the first list of Rajasthan, besides a number of professionals,” Union Minister J P Nadda told reporters on Sunday night.
Eleven of these new faces are sons or daughters of party leaders who have crossed the age barrier to get poll tickets. A similar pattern was seen in MP and Chhattisgarh as well.
However, the BJP has also shown a willingness to field professionals and grassroots workers from RSS ranks. Many medical, legal, management and business professionals have been given tickets in Rajasthan.
With party chief Amit Shah’s move of dropping 23 sitting legislators, including three ministers, at least 12 other ministers in the Vasundhara Raje cabinet, including her lieutenant Yunus Khan, are spending sleepless nights.
The BJP central election committee has empowered Shah to take a decision regarding the candidates on the remaining 69 Assembly seats. BJP leaders said the party was still looking for new faces among established political families. According to sources, Shah is seeking to phase out old leaders while compensating by promoting their children.