Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah said the party is focusing on vikas (development) as he dodged questions over the Chief Ministerial candidate in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
“The party will contest the upcoming Assembly polls based on its ideology and development, not on face value,” Shah said on Tuesday. He added that the “victory march” would be incomplete without a win in the country’s largest state (UP).
However, political observers point out that it is not just ‘vikas’ that will help the party in the state polls, but a strong CM face is also needed. A prominent CM face will help the party in the caste-sensitive state. Highlighting the need to project a CM candidate, they said the lack of it caused the party’s debacle in Bihar in 2015. They further referred to the BJP’s thumping victory in Assam, where the party had projected Sarbananda Sonowal as the CM candidate.
BJP’s national vice-president Om Prakash Mathur said the party might decide on the CM face at its national executive meeting, which will be held in Allahabad from June 11 to 13.
Meanwhile, sources said Shah named two leaders (Rajnath Singh and Kalyan Singh) during his discussion with party workers and both have been the Chief Ministers of UP.
While Rajnath Singh is the Union Home Minister, Kalyan Singh is the Governor of Rajasthan. By mentioning these two leaders, Shah seems to have indicated that either of these two leaders might be the party’s preferred choice for UP chief ministerial candidate.