Lok Sabha elections 2019: Stung by Assembly poll rout, BJP to bench all sitting MPs in Chhattisgarh

The Bharatiya Janata Party has gone for a massive pruning in its list of candidates for Chhattisgarh for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Taking cue from the defeat in the recently concluded Assembly elections, the BJP has decided not to field any of the sitting MPs as well as candidates who lost in the state polls. Of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh, the BJP won 10 in the 2014 general elections, while the Congress bagged one.

The shift in strategy comes after the virtual wipeout in the Assembly elections held last year which brought to an end the 15-year tenure of BJP under Chief Minister Raman Singh. Having lost out in all three Hindi heartland states that went to polls, the BJP is leaving nothing to chance and will field fresh faces from the 11 seats in Chhattisgarh.

Among prominent names who will face the axe are Raipur MP Ramesh Bais and former Chief Minister Raman Singh’s son and Rajnandgaon MP Abhishek Singh. It is, however, not known whether Raman Singh will get a ticket for the Parliamentary polls. The BJP, it is learnt, may look at accommodating the three-time CM at the Centre.

While party leaders have maintained that this “massive pruning” may not be applicable in other states, chances “pruning” in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan cannot be ruled out. The BJP lost power in both these states last year.

“In order to give a new face, new zeal to the party in Chhattisgarh, the BJP has decided not to field ten of its sitting MPs or any of those defeated in the 2018 assembly elections,” BJP leader Anil Jain told The Indian Express in the national capital.

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“We will have fresh faces in all 11 constituencies… the list will reflect the mandate the party got in the assembly elections,” he added as per the paper. Jain is the party in-charge for Chhattisgarh. The party suffred a massive drubbing in last year’s Assembly polls. While in 2013 assembly, BJP won 49 seats, it dropped to 15 last year. The vote share also fell from 41 percent to 32.9 percent.

Supporting the BJP stand, a party leader hoped this would ensure victory in upcoming general elections. However, he also expressed concern that the step it could lead to “protest and anger” among party leaders. The state will go on polls in three phases — one seat on April 11, three on April 18 and seven on April 23.