In first list for Lok Sabha polls, why BJP overhauled Delhi, Chhattisgarh lineups

The decision to field Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of former Union Minister Sushma Swaraj who died in 2019, from the New Delhi seat is being attributed to major support among party workers as she is known to have been very active in connecting with them in recent times. “She is very approachable and party workers see the image of her late mother Sushma Swaraj in her,” said a senior Delhi BJP leader.

The extent of change in five seats in the national Capital declared till now is such that only Manoj Tiwari has retained his constituency. Even former Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, who lost his ministerial berth in 2021, has been overlooked. On Sunday, Harsh Vardhan announced that he was quitting active politics.

In Chhattisgarh, only two candidates have been retained, with the rest either dropped or having moved to the Assembly during last year’s state elections. The seats of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, Arun Sao, and Renuka Singh fell vacant when they became MLAs. Former CM and Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel’s nephew Vijay Baghel has been rewarded for giving a tough fight to his uncle in the Assembly elections from Patan. He agreed to be fielded from a tough seat despite having won the last Lok Sabha election by a huge margin. In Rajnandgaon, the party chose sitting MP Santosh Pandey, an organisational man, ignoring the claims of former CM Raman Singh’s son Abhishek Singh, who was not known to have been very active.

All other candidates have been replaced on grounds of anti-incumbency, inactivity, and the perceived lack of connection with voters and party workers. Eight-time MLA and minister Brijmohan Agrawal, however, made the cut because of his stature in state politics while Rajya Sabha member Saroj Pandey, who had been Lok Sabha MP from Durg earlier, has been fielded from Korba because of a significant migrant population in Korba. The constituency is part of an industrial belt where, apart from a significant tribal population, there are many migrants from UP and Bihar, where she has had family connections.

Rajasthan and Assam

In Rajasthan, of the 15 candidates announced, seven are new faces. Churu, Jalore, Alwar, Bharatpur, Nagaur, Udaipur and Banswara-Dungarpur are the seats that have new candidates. The constituencies that fell vacant after their representatives moved to the Assembly are Jaipur (Rural), where Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was MP; Alwar, which was represented by Balak Nath before he became MLA; and Rajasmand, which Deputy CM Diya Kumari used to represent in the Lok Sabha before her move to state politics.

A state BJP leader said the performance of candidates and their image among voters were taken into account. From Churu, para-athlete Devendra Jhajharia has been fielded. Jhajharia belongs to the Jat community, which has a significant presence in the region. He has replaced sitting MP Rahul Kaswan. In Alwar, Union Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupender Yadav has been fielded.

In Assam, the party has replaced three candidates on grounds of performance and one after a constituency was reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs). Sitting Gauhat MP Queen Oja has been replaced because there were several complaints about her performance, said sources. The party has replaced her with former Guwahati Deputy Mayor Bijuli Kalita. The BJP has also replaced Union Minister Rameshwar Teli with former CM Sarbananda Sonowal, currently a Rajya Sabha MP, in Dibrugarh because of questions over the former’s performance. In Tezpur, Pallab Lochan Das, whom CM Himanta Biswa Sarma wants to be a minister in Assam, has been replaced by Ranjeet Dutta. In Silchar, the party has replaced Rajdeep Roy with Parimal Suklabaidya as the seat is now reserved for SCs.