Saffron Party to Replace One-Fourth Candidates in Up-coming Assembly Polls

Like previous years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has again planned to replace one-fourth of its candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand. 

While, the assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana has been scheduled in October, Jharkhand will go on poll in December. All three states are ruled by the saffron party.   

Noticeably, the BJP fielded 422 candidates out of 459 assembly seats spread across the three states in the last round of state elections and won 206. It contested 260 out of 288 seats of Maharashtra and won 122 seats. It fielded candidates in all 90 seats of Haryana and won 47. And it won 37 seats out of 72 it contested in Jharkhand, where assembly has 81 elected members.

In a questioned, a prominent BJP leader, on condition of anonymity said, “The saffron party’s strategy is based on two factors”.

The first one is push factor to promote younger leadership at the grassroots level where assembly elections would be an opportunity for them.

Another is based on lifting those leaders who have come into BJP from other parties till recently.

Another senior BJP leader stressed, “It is a tested formula to also cut personal anti-incumbency faced by sitting legislators”.

Over two dozen prominent leaders from various national and regional parties, including from Congress, NCP and others have joined the BJP in Maharashtra and other states. 

Bharatiya Janata Party won a simple majority in Haryana, but has grown in size in the northern state. 

The BJP could not win a majority in Jharkand but secured one following defection by the legislators of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha of tribal leader Babulal Marandi.

He emphasized that there were certain constituencies in Jharkhand where the party need to replace its candidates. 

By Pravin Mishra