BJP fields Hema Malini from Mathura, Olympian Rajyavardhan Rathore from Jaipur Rural; Dushyant gets Jhalawar
BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi will contest from Vadodara in his home State Gujarat besides Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and veteran leader lK Advani will fight from his traditional Gandhinagar seat despite his inclination to shift base to Bhopal — an issue that took the party top brass nine long hours to sort out.
However, in a late night development, lK Advani has reported to have conveyed his displeasure to party leaders over fielding him from Gandhinagar lok Sabha seat instead of Bhopal.
The BJP’s fifth list of 67 candidates also has ‘dream girl’ Hema Malini as the party’s candidate from Mathura, Olympic medalist Rajyavardhan Rathore from Jaipur (Rural) and Dushyant Singh, son of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, from Jhalawar. Interestingly, NCP Minister in the Maharashtra Government for the last 17 years Dr Vijay Kumar Gavit’s daughter Heena Gavit has been fielded from Nandurbar.
The BJP’s fifth list has names of candidates for 24 seats in Gujarat, 21 in Rajasthan, 15 in UP, three in Bihar, two in Maharashtra, and one each in Kerala, Jharkhand, Andaman and Nicobar, Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Senior Bihar leader and former Minister in the Nitish Kumar Government Ashwini Kumar Chaubey has been put up from Buxar, a move that is being seen as an effort by the party to placate him after he made his displeasure known in no uncertain terms over the party’s tie-up with Ram Vilas Paswan’s lJP.
The BJP also fielded former Congress MP Jagadambika Pal from Domariyaganj. Incid-entally, Pal joined BJP on Wednesday itself after having resigned as the Congress MP from the same constituency recently. While the BJP deliberated on the constituencies of Ahmedabad East and Vadodara for Modi, it was the tricky issue of Advani’s preference to contest from Bhopal that had to be dealt by the Central Parliamentary Board. Advani had informed party president Rajnath Singh about his desire to shift base to Bhopal from Gandhinagar, which he has represented five times.
Sources said he pointed out that though he did not have problems in contesting from Gandhinagar, however, since many senior leaders were
giving their preferences of seats, he too should be allowed to make a choice. But, the BJP was wary that Advani shifting out of Gujarat would send out wrong signals about his own equations with Modi, besides it would make the Gandhinagar seat appear unsafe. Advani recused himself from the meeting saying it would not be appropriate for him to attend it when his candidature was being discussed.
Advani’s preference for Bhopal was also seen in the context of his insecurity from contesting from Modi’s turf especially after his opposition to his elevation as the party’s PM candidate.
Advani felt more comfortable contesting from Bhopal since it is in the stronghold of his trusted lieutenant Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, sources said. Chouhan had himself asked Advani to contest from Bhopal. Modi called Advani on Wednesday and urged him to contest from Gandhinagar seat. Party president Rajnath Singh too wanted Advani to contest from the seat.
Advani’s insistence on Bhopal notwithstanding, the party after deliberating on the pros and cons decided
that he should contest from his traditional seat. Senior leaders Sushma Swaraj and MM Joshi were then entrusted with the responsibility to convey the message to the BJP patriarch.
The Central Parliamentary Board of the BJP “unanimously decided” that Advani should contest from Gandhinagar in Gujarat, said senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu adding that the decision was conveyed to the veteran party leader.
As for Modi, the BJP decided Vadodara for him because Ahmedabad East is represented by Haren Pathak, known for his proximity to Advani. By opting for the seat, the BJP didn’t want to complicate matters further, sources said. Sitting Vadodara MP Balkrishna Shukla has already made it known he would be happy to vacate his seat for Modi.