New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has denied a Lok Sabha ticket to over a third of its first-time MPs, seemingly under-confident of their electoral prospects and five-year performance.
According to data analysed by ThePrint, the BJP has not fielded 55 of its 158 first-time MPs, a total of around 35 per cent. The remaining 103 are re-contesting. Two of the BJP’s first-time Lok Sabha members are nominated, taking the total figure to 160, but they have been excluded for the purpose of this analysis.
According to a highly-placed source in the party, the top leadership made the changes because it felt that several first-timers managed to win in 2014 “riding on the Modi wave but anti-incumbency, their weak grip over their seats and less than satisfactory performance” could prove to be a downer.
Overall, the party has re-fielded 173 of its sitting MPs from its current Lok Sabha strength of 268. The BJP rode to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls with a handsome mandate, winning 282 of the 543 seats.
The break-up
Of the total first-time MPs denied tickets, the maximum, 17, are from Uttar Pradesh. The BJP had done exceedingly well in the state in 2014, winning 71 of its 80 seats. However, with the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party combine as its main rival this time, the pressure is on the BJP to minimise its losses in the state.
In Madhya Pradesh, where the party won 27 of the 29 seats in 2014, it has replaced eight first-time MPs. It has also dropped five such MPs in Chhattisgarh, where it was routed in last year’s assembly polls. Among the first-timers left out was Abhishek Singh, the son of former chief minister Raman Singh.
Four each from Gujarat and Rajasthan, three each from Delhi, Maharashtra and Bihar, and two from Andhra Pradesh and Assam, besides a few in other states, have been denied tickets.
In some cases, having to cede more space to allies has led to the BJP dropping sitting MPs. For instance, all three seats in Bihar where it was represented by first-time MPs — Jhanjharpur, Gopalganj and Valmiki Nagar — went to ally Janata Dal (United).
Similarly, Nagaur in Rajasthan from where BJP’s C.R. Chaudhary was a first-time MP, the ticket went to ally Hanuman Beniwal’s Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP). Robertsganj in UP, which votes on 19 May, has party ally Apna Dal in the fray.
Some like Bhagat Singh Koshyari, a veteran BJP leader with vast legislative experience but who was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 2014, did not make the cut due to his age. The BJP’s unwritten rule has been to deny tickets to those above 75 years and Koshyari is 76.
“In 2014, riding on the Modi wave, many first-timers managed to win. But the high command now feels many of them have shown less than satisfactory performance. Some have little or no grip over their constituencies,” said a party leader who did not wish to be identified.
“Further, a five-year anti-incumbency sentiment has also set in. All of this had to be kept in mind and hence, many sitting MPs, but especially first-time ones, were dropped.”
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Not without a fuss
However, it isn’t as if all the first-timers who were dropped went without a fuss. Hardoi MP Anshul Verma quit to join the Samajwadi Party while Etawah MP Ashok Kumar Dohrey switched to the Congress.
The BJP MP from Northwest Delhi and Dalit leader, Udit Raj, had a very public and openly bitter exit from the party after his seat was handed over to singer Hans Raj Hans.
Some others like Banda MP Bhairon Prasad Mishra decided to protest at the party’s head office and demanded to know why he was not fielded again.
The others
While the party did not deem 35 per cent of its first-time MPs fit to fight polls again, it has also changed the seats of some sitting first-time members.
For instance, Union minister Giriraj Singh, who is an MP from Nawada in Bihar, was shifted to Begusarai after his seat went to ally Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
National BJP vice-president S.S. Ahluwalia, who won his first Lok Sabha election in 2014 from Darjeeling, has been shifted to Burdwan-Durgapur.
Another first time MP — Dalit leader Savitribai Phule — had quit the BJP in December last year, accusing the party of being anti-Dalit.
First-time MPs in Congress
The main opposition party, meanwhile, has 11 first-time MPs of its current total tally of 45. Of these, only two have been dropped.
The MP from Tumkur in Karnataka, S.P. Muddahanumegowda, was dropped as the seat went to ally, the Janata Dal (Secular).
The MP from Hingoli in Maharashtra and Congress in-charge of Gujarat, Rajiv Satav, is the other first-time Parliamentarian who did not contest this time around as he said he wanted to concentrate on Gujarat.
Overall, the BJP and Congress are contesting in 435 and 420 seats respectively.
Also read: Why a record poll win will be difficult for BJP’s Pritam Munde this time around
While 2014 produced an exceptional crop of lampposts, there is not much that an MP can really do for his constituency. A VIP could snag a few prestigious projects, make a few trains stop by. It is really the performance and delivery of the central government that is on test.