In what can be seen as a move to undergo an ‘image makeover,’ the BJP leadership has made it clear that there is no space for hate speeches that serve as fodder for the Opposition and embarrass the ruling party.
The BJP dropped controversial figures like Bhopal MP Sadhhvi Pragya Singh Thakur and MPs Parvesh Singh Verma and Ramesh Bidhuri from Delhi, as well as Jayant Sinha from Hazaribagh, Jharkhand.
Pragya was removed due to her comments on killed ATS chief Hemant Karkare and Godse, while Parvesh and Bidhuri were sidelined for hate speeches disturbing communal harmony. These leaders have courted controversies with their remarks inside and outside Parliament. Hours before the announcement of the first list, Sinha opted out of the Lok Sabha polls, anticipating that he would not be given a ticket this time.
This sends a clear message that the BJP is more ‘image conscious’ than ever as it faces the might of the INDIA alliance, a conglomeration of 31 political parties. In Bhopal, the BJP has replaced Pragya with Alok Sharma. During the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Pragya gained prominence as one of the ‘giant killers,’ securing victory over Congress stalwart Digvijaya Singh by an impressive margin of 3,64,822 votes.
Despite her electoral success, Pragya ‘s tenure has been marred by controversies. Pragya, who is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bombings case, was out on bail on health grounds and attempted various means like playing kabaddi and attending garba nights to stay away from controversy.
Her remarks on Nathuram Godse, whom she called a ‘patriot,’ also did not sit well with the BJP. Her conduct earned censure from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Five years later, she lost her seat. She stirred controversy with remarks on former Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who died during the 2008 terror attacks, suggesting he was killed because of her ‘curse.’ Additionally, her lack of activity in her constituency worked against her.
A notable absence in the BJP list that surprised many was West Delhi MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, a two-time MP and son of former Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma. Before the 2020 Delhi elections, Verma made incendiary remarks during the Shaheen Bagh protest, suggesting the demonstrators would be cleared in an hour if the BJP came to power in the national Capital. Last year, reports emerged that the BJP leadership strongly condemned Verma’s remarks, which called for an “economic boycott” of a particular community. Verma made these comments during a gathering titled ‘Virat Hindu Sabha,’ organised by the local unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and other Hindu organisations in East Delhi on October 9 last year. In his speech, Verma advocated for a “complete boycott” of “these people,” without explicitly naming any particular community.
South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri recently came under scrutiny for making hate remarks in Parliament during a discussion on the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Videos of Bidhuri’s contentious comments targeting MP Danish Ali quickly circulated on social media, drawing widespread criticism.
BJP president JP Nadda reportedly issued a show cause notice to Bidhuri, their party MP, over his use of objectionable language against Ali within Parliament. The offending remarks were expunged from the Parliamentary records, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh promptly expressed regret for Bidhuri’s conduct during the Session.
Bidhuri reacted to the party’s decision to deny him a ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, expressing confidence that the ruling party must have put a lot of thought behind their decision to deny tickets to four sitting MPs in Delhi.
In an indirect address to the fresh faces selected by the BJP for the Lok Sabha election, Bidhuri said these are guests, “hum toh ghar ke log hain (we are family members).” He further stated that those who are part of the family have the responsibility to uphold the unit’s ideology and work towards maintaining its dignity and reputation.
Bidhuri emphasised that the BJP is not a family party and that they must have made the decision (to deny him a ticket) after significant deliberation.
BJP’s Hazaribagh MLA Manish Jaiswal replaces sitting party MP Jayant Sinha from Hazaribagh Lok Sabha seat. In 2019, Sinha said he and some other BJP leaders provided financial assistance to pay the legal fees of the persons accused of lynching a meat trader in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh in 2017. His admission came a year after he triggered a controversy by felicitating and posing with the six accused after they were released on bail and taken straight to the minister’s residence in Hazaribagh. The other prominent Delhi MPs who have been dropped include Meenakshi Lekhi and Harsh Vardhan.
In the Lohardaga (ST) seat, three-time MP Sudarshan Bhagat was replaced by Samir Oraon. In its list of candidates for Madhya Pradesh, the BJP replaced seven sitting MPs with new faces. The party named Bharat Singh Kushwaha for the Gwalior Lok Sabha seat, instead of its sitting MP Vivek Narayan Shejwalker.
It dropped sitting MP from Guna, Krishnapal Singh Yadav, to field Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia from the seat. The BJP announced its candidates for 15 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan, replacing five sitting MPs with new faces who will contest from Churu, Bharatpur, Jalore, Udaipur, and Banswara contingency.
The BJP has replaced as many as 33 sitting MPs with new faces as it released its first list with names of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls on Saturday. The BJP had contested 436 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. With 195 seats declared on Saturday, the BJP has declared almost 40 per cent of the seats it may contest this time if one goes by 2019 estimate.
