Party workers recently burnt the effigy of Union Minister Mahesh Sharma, and some other BJP MPs in this regard, while a select few candidates have said they would contest polls independently. BJP leader Aditya Rana has said he would now contest the Behat seat of Saharanpur as an independent.
The handing over of tickets and the deciding of candidates who will contest elections is never an easy time for any party, as a section always feels left out. And in UP, some party workers are voicing protests against the BJP for the fact that their candidates have not been considered.
Party workers recently burnt the effigy of Union Minister Mahesh Sharma, and some other BJP MPs in this regard, while a select few candidates have said they would contest polls independently. BJP leader Aditya Rana has said he would now contest the Behat seat of Saharanpur as an independent.
The BJP's state election committee headed by the party's state President Keshav Prasad Maurya held its first meeting in Lucknow, on January 11. So far, the party has announced the names of 149 candidates for UP. But what is upsetting a section of party workers is the awarding of seats to those whom they term as "turncoats".
These are candidates who have joined the BJP after defecting from other parties. More than two dozen prominent leaders from other political parties, including Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP), and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) have joined the BJP, along with their entourage, in over a year.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi won the Lucknow Cantt constituency when she was with the Congress in the previous assembly polls, while BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya had won the Padrauna seat for his party in the last state polls.
Such candidates have a large following in their respective constituencies and workers are upset that local party candidates have been ignored. However, the party does not see the new entrants as a problem or threat and say they have made the loyalists understand the value of their selection.
"The party leadership discussed the situation with (local) candidates and convinced them of the need for their replacement by a winning candidate," a senior BJP leader said.
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