With a few months left in parliamentary and assembly polls and amid the possibility of the simultaneous conduct of the elections, Haryana witnesses hectic political activities as the parties and leaders gear up ahead of the forthcoming polls.
Several veterans in the saffron BJP who will be attaining the age of 72 or 73 years, are in the fray for the ticket but the unwritten retirement age of the party high command seems to be an obstacle in their way as earlier during a programme held last year, the Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar made it clear that politics should be stopped after attaining the age of 75, and it is not easy for leaders above or around 75 years of age to get tickets.
Further, he had said that after 75 years, the “Sannyas Ashram ‘’ starts, so it is forbidden for him to stay in the house. As far as the age factor in politics is concerned in the BJP, the party high command has set a limit here. The undeclared age criteria of the saffron BJP has added to the woes of the veteran party leaders who attained or are about to attain the age of 75 and are still left with the political ambitions as their claims for tickle in the forthcoming are most likely to weaken.
In such a situation, leaders falling into this category continue to mull over every possible option they are left with. Along with this, the unsatisfied leaders of other parties who were mulling over joining the BJP, may step back and remaining the Significantly, at present, there are several such leaders in the BJP who are continuously active in the field, but due to the unwritten rule pertaining to the age in the BJP, they will not be able to contest the next election.
The BJP leader and the speaker, Gian Chand Gupta who turned 75 years old last year, has impressed everyone with his efficient working style so far and has not given any indication of giving up politics. So in wake of his age factor, discussions continue to surface in state politics and in such a situation, everyone is now eyeing Gyan Chand Gupta’ s political future. Political experts are of the opinion that the party may come with exceptions giving relaxation to several with age of 75 or more in terms of ticket distribution.
Ranjit Singh,who supported the BJP and despite being an independent legislator, was given a berth in the state cabinet by the BJP. Even after crossing the age of 78, his political ambitions are neither over nor he is in the mood to bid farewell to politics. He has clarified several times that he will contest the elections. He is believed to join the BJP ahead of the polls and seek tickets. It is pertinent to mention that Union Home Minister Amit Shah met him at his residence at sirsa last year which led to fresh political speculations and equations.
BJP veteran Chaudhary Birender Singh is continuously active in politics. There are many such big- wigs in the BJP who will cross 75 after 2024 polls. Similarly, Ram Bilas Sharma (73 years) who refrained himself from state politics after witnessing debelce in 2019 polls , continues to mark his presence in the political corridors for last few months. With political ambitions left, Rao Indrajit is about to turn 73 years old, seeking a ticket for his daughter Aarti Rao. Carrying forward his political legacy, he wants to establish his daughter in state politics. It is pertinent to mention that following “One family one ticket’’ policy, the BJP high command refused to field Aarti in polls.
