New Delhi: After Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan is the latest state where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has prepared a list of seats that it considers ‘weak’ and as requiring more effort, ThePrint has learnt. The party is considering fielding sitting MPs in such seats.
According to party sources, like in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP has categorised Rajasthan’s seats into several categories for better planning. “The party has identified around 50 seats, of which 19 have never been won by the party and the rest are considered weak,” said a senior BJP leader to ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.
In 2018, of the state’s total 200 seats, the Congress had won 99 and the BJP 73.
Assembly elections in Rajasthan will be held later this year.
Some of the seats the BJP considers weak include Nawalgarh, Bassi, Todabhim, Jhunjhunu, and Kotputli, among others.
“Professional surveys have been conducted by the central leadership, apart from getting feedback from the workers, and 50 seats have been identified as those which will require a lot of effort. Work on these seats has already started and individual strategies are being deployed to ensure the party is able to win them this time,” said a senior BJP leader.
According to the source in the party, a list of 19 ‘weak’ seats from Rajasthan was supposed to have been released to the public last week along with that of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, but it was delayed since the party has not been able to decide on a campaign committee head.
“The idea is to field a sitting MP, or a rebel candidate from the Congress or a regional party, or a prominent face from the area whom the public trusts,” the BJP leader said.
“As part of its strategy to counter the Congress on these weak seats, the party has also listed the issues that need to be highlighted in each specific seat to give the BJP an edge,” said the leader.
Like it has in Chhattisgarh, the party is looking to field sitting MPs on some of these seats to give a tough fight to the Congress, as well as for optics, said the BJP leader.
Explaining how the party is gearing up for the Rajasthan assembly elections, the leader said that the central leadership is of the view that “new faces” should be given a chance.
“Those who have been sitting MLAs for five terms are being told to make way for younger faces. However, they have been asked to help the party, using their experience, and have been told that they will be given other responsibilities,” said a party functionary to ThePrint.
The importance that the party is giving to the assembly elections in the Congress-ruled Rajasthan can be gauged by the fact that the party has already entrusted the task of each assembly in the state to MLAs from other state units of the party.
“One MLA has been given the responsibility of one seat. The MLA will spend a week on a particular seat and give a feedback report to the central leadership,” said the BJP leader. “This feedback will be separate from the professional surveys that the central leadership has already conducted.”
The reports, he added, will also play a vital role in the central leadership deciding ticket distribution.
Most of the MLAs being brought in will be from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, and Haryana.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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