Post national executive meeting, BJP remains silent on CM candidate for UP polls

At the end of a widely-discussed national executive meeting in Allahabad, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad touched upon a wide range of issues. However, the questions that followed the media interaction were focussed largely on whether the party will have a chief ministerial face for the high-stakes Uttar Pradesh election. The BJP spokesperson, however, declined to mention any one person as the chief ministerial face. “Our aim is to form a BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh. Questions about when will the CM face be announced and who will it be will only be discussed by the Parliamentary board,” was Prasad’s emphatic reply to the queries that came his way. Speculation on possible chief ministerial candidates has been growing, as UP is a state where the BJP performed exceptionally well during the Lok Sabha elections, and will now be looking to make a mark in the assembly polls. During the polls in Bihar last year, the party had not formally announced a chief ministerial candidate, and hoped to ride on PM Narendra Modi’s popularity. However, the BJP had suffered, perhaps its biggest debacle after the Lok Sabha elections, and lost to the JD(U)-RJD Mahagathbandhan. Given this context, the party’s strategy in the run-up to the UP elections will be keenly watched. [caption id=“attachment_2830774” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image courtesy: Twitter/@CNNnews18[/caption] However, there is no doubt that the BJP has now sounded the poll bugle for the key state. On 25 May, PM Modi had addressed a huge rally at Saharanpur as his government completed two years in office. In the media interaction on Sunday as well, the BJP devoted a lot of attention to Uttar Pradesh, saying that there was a ‘breakdown of law and  order’ in the state. However, when a journalist asked a specific question about whether PM Modi raised the issue of alleged violence in Kairana , the party spokesperson said that no such decision took place. However, Shah reportedly referred to the alleged migration of a community from the western UP town of Kairana and said that it is a matter of deep concern. On the recent incidents in Mathura, Shah said that this politics of forcefully grabbing government land with “patronage” was “very unfortunate.” Ravi Shankar Prasad said that the Ram Temple is ’not an election issue’, and that the party is emotionally attached to it. The party spokesperson said that 2017 would be a ‘year of challenges’ for the BJP due to elections in key states such as Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. During the national executive meeting, the BJP president called upon party workers to work hard and expressed commitment that the BJP will form government in UP with full majority after the assembly polls. ‘Modi govt laying standards of accountability’ Much of Ravi Shankar Prasad’s interaction with the media was devoted to listing out the achievements of the Modi government, quite similar to the party’s public statement on completing two years in power. “The Modi government is laying down standards of democratic accountability. We have provided two years of corruption-free governance.” Listing a number of statistics on the economy, Prasad said, “India has acquired the status of a country which has become a beacon of hope for the world.” While saying that the GDP growth rate has increased from 5.4 percent to 7.9 percent, he said that the government’s aim was ‘GDP with a human face.’ A major part of the BJP’s statement also focussed on political successes. Referring to the recent electoral success in Assam, the BJP spokesperson said that a ‘gateway to the North East’ has opened for the party. “The BJP now has a presence from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, and from Kutch to Guwahati,” he remarked. Interestingly, Prasad also said that PM Modi had recently received the highest civilian award from two Islamic countries — Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. BJP targets ‘policy paralysis’ of UPA government While the BJP has repeatedly asserted that the Congress is becoming politically irrelevant, it also took potshots at the grand old party. “Earlier, this was a situation of policy paralysis. All the ministers considered themselves as equivalent to the prime minister, but no one considered the PM as such.” Accusing the Congress of blocking legislative proceedings in Parliament, Prasad said, “Loyal leaders of the Congress are leaving the party. The party is losing importance because of repeated obstruction in the parliamentary process.” While the BJP has attempted to make a strong political pitch after the national executive meeting, much attention will be focussed on PM Modi, who is expected to speak on Monday. With inputs from PTI