The scramble for tickets to contest the Assembly polls have begun in the Chhattisgarh unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) among the contenders with sitting MlAs becoming the first to submit their bio-data with a profile of achievements to senior party leaders.
BJP National General Secretary JP Nadda who is also In-charge of Chhattisgarh had been submitted over 300 bio-data of the contenders as early as last month, party sources here informed.
‘Almost all the sitting MlAs want to re-contest the Assembly polls and are also wary of the party’s preference for ‘new faces’ this time round which would make the race to seek tickets a lot more charged with a powerful zeal to prove they did it all what the party expected during the past five years, sources said.
The party is most likely to start screening the bio data of the contenders from second half of this month with every bio data to be subjected to scrutiny by a core team of party leadership comprising very senior leaders.
The BJP’s central leadership is already weighing options of putting up a fresh face in some of the constituencies where the feedback received from the people have more support for Chief Minister Raman Singh and his work in the region than the sitting MlA’s own initiative taken for development in the region, sources stated.
The party high command is clearly unhappy with some of the MlAs and ministers who have also not performed as per the party’s expectations and have missed contacting the voters in rural pockets during the past five years.
Interestingly, this time round the sitting BJP MPs have also been asked to provide feedback of MlAs work in the Assembly segments considering the ‘Mission-2014’ campaign plans of the party in Chhattisgarh.
Those MlAs who have not kept in regular touch with party MPs of their region during the past five years may also spoil their chances of getting a ticket this time round, sources informed.
Interestingly, the screening for tickets this time would not be a purely State-level decision as the BJP's central leadership wants a clean sweep again in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh without any hassles, it was learnt.
The party had also reportedly told all sitting MlAs not to waste their time frequenting the State BJP headquarters in Raipur and instead focus on poll preparations in their respective regions.