Delhi Confidential: Rare Rest Day

When BJP national president Nitin Nabin chaired a meeting with state unit presidents and in-charges from across the country at the party headquarters on Friday, a few leaders were missing. Sources said office-bearers from states where elections are being held were exempted from attending the meeting. What surprised many in the BJP was the fact that the exemption was not just for leaders from West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, where polling is yet to take place, but also for those from Assam and Kerala where the voting is over. They were allowed to take rest after the hard work during the campaign. It was a rare instance as the BJP is known for starting preparations for its next goal the day after the polling is over.

Ticket Hopefuls

In Rajasthan, where Rajya Sabha elections are due soon, the BJP is seeing another kind of discussion in party circles. Those who lost the Assembly polls in 2023 and those who lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 — the BJP came down from 25 to 14 seats in the state — are trying to get an RS ticket. The hopefuls are discussing prospects of their entry to the Upper House, so much so that those meeting Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma are learnt to be slipping in a few words for themselves. The candidates, however, are to be decided by the party’s central leadership.