Signaling the onset of the election season, BJP president Rajnath Singh has said that the party will soon constitute Lok Sabha election campaign committee.
The BJP president, in an exclusive interview to The New Indian Express, said that the committee’s constitution is one of his top priority.
On the likelihood of Modi heading the committee, Rajnath said it would be decided later. “I will talk to everybody, including Narendrabhai on this,” he said.
“We will be able to declare candidates for the Lok Sabha seats from July onwards. We have already received feedbacks from one-third of the country’s Lok Sabha seats,” Rajnath said.
While parties like the SP and the BSP are already in the process of declaring their candidates’ list, the Uttar Pradesh unit of the BJP has said that it would be the first in the party to declare its nominees’ list.
UP is one state that Rajnath is keenly looking at.
In his interactions with party leaders in UP, Rajnath had said that the “party must win at least forty seats from the state”. In a state which elects 80 Lok Sabha MPs, the party currently has only 10 MPs.
The UP unit of BJP has also been toying with the idea of using Modi for a quantum jump in seats in the state. Asked if Modi would be made to contest the parliamentary election from Uttar Pradesh, Rajnath didn’t uprightly reject the idea, but said that “he will first have to discuss the idea with Modi”. “Narendrabhai is undoubtedly the most popular Chief Minister and party leader today. But I have to discuss with him whether he wants to contest the parliamentary elections,” he said.
“In Karnataka, too, the picture would be altogether different in Parliamentary elections,” said Rajnath.
Asked about the recent buzz in the party that those above 75 years of age may not get party tickets in the coming elections, the BJP president said “winnability” alone would be the factor while deciding candidates’ names.
On party’s Prime Ministerial candidate, he said: “only the BJP Parliamentary Board will take a final decision on the matter at an appropriate time,” he said.