In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may choose to field candidates not only from the Uttar Pradesh government’s ministers but also film stars. The party’s state unit has begun its preparations for the same. According to party sources, apart from allocating certain VIP seats to allies, big names may be fielded in some weaker constituencies that the party lost in the previous elections.
The party is also conducting a ground survey to assess the situation in the state. There is reason to believe that some current MPs could ut dropped in favour of new faces following the survey report. According to sources, some ministers in the Uttar Pradesh government themselves wish to contest the Lok Sabha elections. Lok Nirman Minister Jitin Prasada is one such leader. He previously won elections from Shahjahanpur with the Congress and then from Dhaurahra, beginning his political career.
At the time, he was considered a confidante to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. He became a minister in the Manmohan Singh government on his recommendation. However, he lost both the 2014 and 2019 elections. He also suffered defeat in 2017, when the party gave him ly assembly ticket.
In 2021, he joined the BJP and was made a minister in the state government. There is also similar speculation around Rakesh Sachan, a minister in CM Yogi Adityanath’s government. Sachan, who came from the Samajwadi Party to the BJP, was a Fatehpur MP in 2009. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he was defeated by BJP candidate Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti.
Jayveer Singh, who started his political journey with the Congress and served as minister in the BSP government, might also contest on a BJP ticket. He was elected as an MLA from Mainpuri in the 2022 elections and appointed as tourism minister. State Minister Dinesh Pratap Singh also contested from Rae Bareli. Singh, who came from the Congress to the BJP, contested there in 2019 and lost.
Sources say that the BJP is preparing to field big names in some of the 14 seats they lost in the previous elections. The names of some film stars and retired administrative officers have come up in discussions. Before the elections are announced, some film stars and retired administrative officers from Mumbai may join the BJP. The BJP may also try to woo veterans from other parties. An IAS officer who retired from Uttar Pradesh recently may be fielded from the seat held by the BSP or a seat adjacent to Gorakhpur.
Recently, a retired IAS officer from UP was fielded from a seat in the Terai region or from a seat in PunjanbjpBJP, like tss Congress, is conducting a number of ground level surveys, feedbck’s from the constituencies and voters to finalise candidates for 2024 general elections.
The party has entered election mode a few months ago starting with the visit of key RSS functionaries to the state to meet the cadres and understand their mood. UP is taken very seriously as a good numbers of seats would only help the party in capturing the narrative for 2024.