Fearing anti-incumbency in the state, the ruling BJP is mulling to deny poll tickets to around 70 to 80 MLAs, including some ministers, for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh assembly election. A state BJP leader said, “The party is seriously toying with the idea of not giving tickets to 70-80 MLAs and ministers”. He further said that the ruling BJP came up with this idea after there were reports of public outrage against some state lawmakers.
Apparently the party has taken this decision because of the internal surveys carried out by party in all 230 Assembly segments in the past few months and a ground-level survey by the workers of its parent organization, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has suggested towards growing anti-incumbency against dozens of BJP MLAs, including some ministers.
The findings of the survey were discussed by top RSS officials and BJP national president Amit Shah in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.
The meeting at the chief minister’s residence was attended by CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state election management committee chief and union minister Narendra Singh Tomar, state party president Rakesh Singh and the party’s state secretary (organization), Suhas Bhagat, where the state unit of the BJP was told by RSS leaders that not denying tickets to 70-80 non-performing MLAs could result in the party losing dozens of seats in the November 28 polls.
According to the party sources, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been receiving complaints about non-performing legislators on his tour to the state as part of his Jan Ashirwad Yatra.
A recent opinion poll, which showed the Congress returning to power after a gap of 15 years, has also alerted the BJP to take this action, said the source.
“There is public outrage against some MLAs but not against Chief Minister Chouhan, who still remains popular with the masses,” a Bharatiya Janta Yuva Morcha (BJYM) member said.
He also said that the BJP could have a chance of retaining power if new faces are fielded in the election.
As per informed sources, the MLAs who are likely to be dropped this time are the ones whose victory margin has lowered with each Assembly poll, and also those who won by small margins. Some MLAs who might have won with significant margins in 2013 but are not popular with voters and party workers due to their working style are likely to be denied tickets. The BJP, in the 2013 Assembly polls, had given about 25 per cent tickets to new faces and 75 per cent of them emerged victorious. In the 2013 Assembly polls, the BJP had won 165 seats in the 230-member House. The Congress got 58 seats, the BSP four and one seat was won by an independent.