HYDERABAD: In a surprising move, BJP’s central leadership has decided to use the services of BJP MP and the party’s general secretary Bandi Sanjay as one of the 40-star campaigners in the first phase of Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh next month. The party has released the list of its star campaigners, which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union ministers, MPs and State unit presidents.
Sanjay will now be campaigning for the party in Chhattisgarh during the period which he would ideally be hoping to spend in Karimnagar constituency, from where he is expected to contest in the Telangana Assembly elections. Indications are that Sanjay may seek reelection from the Karimnagar Lok Sabha constituency instead of contesting in the State elections from the Karimnagar Assembly constituency.
However, the party’s central leadership had made it clear that in order to contest in Lok Sabha elections, the party’s State leaders will also have to prove their worth in the Assembly elections. The idea behind this condition is to select the candidates for the Lok Sabha elections based on the vote share they get in their respective Assembly constituencies.
For instance, there were two choices for the saffron party’s Secunderabad LS ticket in the 2019 elections -- G Kishan Reddy and K Laxman.“Both have served as the party’s State presidents, and they both have considerable influence in the party. So it was a difficult decision. So the central leadership came to the decision to field the candidate whose vote share in the Assembly elections was better. That’s how Kishan Reddy got the opportunity to contest from Secunderabad Lok Sabha segment,” a senior party leader informed TNIE. The party is using the same logic for selecting the candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It now remains to be seen if the party makes an exception to this rule to accommodate Sanjay.
Party’s decision
The party’s central leadership had made it clear that in order to contest in Lok Sabha elections, the party’s State leaders will also have to prove their worth in the Assembly elections. The idea behind this condition is to select the candidates for the Lok Sabha elections based on the vote share they get in their respective Assembly constituencies.