Message From BJP’s First List: When Modi Is The Face, Doesn’t Matter Who The Candidate Is
What BJP’s first candidate list tells us about the party’s election strategy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party released its first list of 184 candidates on the occasion of Holi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest from Varanasi and Amit Shah will be fielded from LK Advani’s constituency Gandhinagar, while Rajnath Singh will contest from Lucknow.
While Smriti Irani is back to challenge Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, Mahesh Sharma, Rajyavardhan Rathore and VK Singh are among the ministers featured on the list. Contrary to expectations, only one in four sitting candidates have been replaced. What that means is the BJP sees no real anti-incumbency factor.
Political analyst Amitabh Tiwari, though, sees a deeper message. When the biggest selling point for the BJP is Modi, who the candidate is doesn’t really matter.
The strategy clearly is the BJP is going to fight this election on the name of Modi so they don’t really care who the local MP is.Amitabh Tiwari, Political Analyst
You can watch more analysis on the BJP’s first list of candidates here: