Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The BJP is contemplating a strategy for this year’s parliamentary polls on the lines of the one adopted for the three Assembly elections in the Hindi heartland which paid the party handsome dividends a month ago. The party is keeping its ‘rulebook’ ready for especially five states — West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Telangana.
The party’s think tank is deliberating upon more features that could be incorporated into the strategy depending on the socio-political situation in a state. Sources said the party is in the process of short-listing candidates with a higher degree of winnability in more than 150 Lok Sabha seats.
“If everything goes well, the first and second lists of candidates for 145-150 ‘weak seats’ would most probably be announced between January 15 and February 14,” said a senior BJP functionary. The buzz is that a good number of party nominations for these seats may go to women candidates as a part of positive messaging over the recent law on women’s reservation.
Speaking to this newspaper, a senior party functionary from Bihar, where the BJP is learnt to have identified around a dozen ‘weak seats,’ the first list of candidates may be longer than the second list. It is expected that the central leadership will release the first list between January 14 and 22, as the auspicious time starts, sources said.
A year ago, the BJP prepared a comprehensive list of 160 LS seats and placed them under the ‘weak category’ on which the party had either poorly performed or lost the election in close fights in 2019.“Most of the weak seats are in West Bengal, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha,” said a source.
Strategic ‘edge’
‘Weak seats’ 36 in TN, 12 each in UP, Bihar, Odisha & Telangana, 23 in West Bengal, 24 in Maharashtra, 25 in Andhra and 20 in Kerala
TacticsParty launches several outreaches ahead of LS polls with caste and other equations being taken into account. Organisational changes also likely
Fresh facesBJP may field fresh candidates with strong ground-level support on more than 70-75 out of 160 weak seats Follow channel on WhatsApp
NEW DELHI: The BJP is contemplating a strategy for this year’s parliamentary polls on the lines of the one adopted for the three Assembly elections in the Hindi heartland which paid the party handsome dividends a month ago. The party is keeping its ‘rulebook’ ready for especially five states — West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Telangana.
The party’s think tank is deliberating upon more features that could be incorporated into the strategy depending on the socio-political situation in a state. Sources said the party is in the process of short-listing candidates with a higher degree of winnability in more than 150 Lok Sabha seats.
“If everything goes well, the first and second lists of candidates for 145-150 ‘weak seats’ would most probably be announced between January 15 and February 14,” said a senior BJP functionary. The buzz is that a good number of party nominations for these seats may go to women candidates as a part of positive messaging over the recent law on women’s reservation.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Speaking to this newspaper, a senior party functionary from Bihar, where the BJP is learnt to have identified around a dozen ‘weak seats,’ the first list of candidates may be longer than the second list. It is expected that the central leadership will release the first list between January 14 and 22, as the auspicious time starts, sources said.
A year ago, the BJP prepared a comprehensive list of 160 LS seats and placed them under the ‘weak category’ on which the party had either poorly performed or lost the election in close fights in 2019.
“Most of the weak seats are in West Bengal, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha,” said a source.
Strategic ‘edge’
‘Weak seats’
36 in TN, 12 each in UP, Bihar, Odisha & Telangana, 23 in West Bengal, 24 in Maharashtra, 25 in Andhra and 20 in Kerala
Tactics
Party launches several outreaches ahead of LS polls with caste and other equations being taken into account. Organisational changes also likely
Fresh faces
BJP may field fresh candidates with strong ground-level support on more than 70-75 out of 160 weak seats Follow channel on WhatsApp
