Wednesday, May 22, 2013

New Delhi: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi may contest the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat of Uttar Pradesh in his bid to prove his pan-India appeal.

According to sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Modi has shifted his focus to Uttar Pradesh as besides the fact that the state elects the maximum 80 lawmakers to the Lok Sabha, his chances of becoming the next prime minister largely hinges on a revival of the party in the state BJP last ruled in 2002.

Lucknow is considered a safe seat by the BJP since the rival Congress party had won this seat last in 1980. Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee won the Lucknow seat for five consecutive terms between 1991 and 2004. BJP’s Lalji Tandon won the seat in 2009 polls upon Vajpayee’s retirement from active politics.

“He [Modi] can win any seat from Gujarat. But it’s an opportunity to prove his charisma is not confined to Gujarat alone,” said a senior central office bearer of the BJP.

BJP could manage just 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh in 2009 polls and revival of the party in India’s most populous state would have a direct bearing on the BJP’s hopes of coming to power at the centre after a gap of 10 years.

Modi’s special interest in Uttar Pradesh is reflected in the fact that his close associate Amit Shah, who served as the home minister in Gujarat, has been given charge of Uttar Pradesh after his induction as the national general secretary of the party. Shah is known as a master strategist who has helped Modi win Gujarat elections three times consecutively.

The incumbent BJP president Rajnath Singh himself belongs to Uttar Pradesh and represents Ghaziabad constituency in the Lok Sabha. He was the last BJP chief minister in the state. The party, however, is of the opinion that it needs to add the X-factor in the form of Modi to take on rivals the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress party in the multi-cornered contests in the state.

Uttar Pradesh has the distinction of giving India eight out of 13 prime ministers so far. Moreover, a race is in the BJP’s second generation leaders to prove themselves as Vajpayee’s successor, which Modi can prove only by contesting and winning the seat considered Vajpayee’s pocket-borough.

According to sources, the idea is to pitch some high-profile national leaders of the party from different parts of the state which the party feels will have impact on neighbouring constituencies. Another party general-secretary Varun Gandhi is expected to shift from the Pilibhit constituency that he won in 2009, to Sultanpur, with an eye on influencing voting in neighbouring Amethi and Rae Bareli held by his cousin, Rahul Gandhi, and his aunt, Sonia Gandhi.

Veteran leader Murli Manohar Joshi will have the choice of seeking to retain the Varanasi seat or go back to his traditional Allahabad seat. Rajnath Singh will continue to flex his muscles in western Uttar Pradesh while former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti may be asked to contest the Jhansi seat. The BJP is already upbeat in western Uttar Pradesh after the return to the fold of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh who could be offered a seat of choice.

Modi is expected to be named prime ministerial candidate of the BJP later this year despite the reservations of some allies in the National Democratic Alliance. The next Lok Sabha elections are barely 11 months away.

By Ajay Jha Chief Correspondent

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