The Bharatiya Janata Party’s list of candidates for the seven Lok Sabha seats in the Capital “significantly” depends on the fate of the Aam Aadmi Party-Congress alliance now more than ever before, said party insiders on Tuesday.
A day after a dialogue between Congress president Rahul Gandhi and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on social media rekindled speculation in regard to the on-again-off-again association and the process of filing nominations got under way, BJP sources claimed multiple strategic permutations and combinations were being considered by it in relation to the candidates it intended to field.
“The party is likely to field most, if not all, of its sitting MPs in case the [AAP-Congress] alliance materialises — even if the old faces are given tickets on new seats. But if there is no alliance, then the BJP will likely field new faces on most of the seven seats in the Capital,” a party source said.
The new faces
The new faces being considered included former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir and retired India Police Service (IPS) officer Deepak Mishra, said the source.
“If both parties decide to contest the election together, their respective vote shares will get consolidated; add to this the anti-incumbency factor for sitting BJP MPs and you get a significant force affecting the winnability of any candidate put up in opposition. This situation [AAP-Congress alliance] would make it an unwise choice to field new faces,” the source added.
However, if AAP and Congress choose to contest separately — making it a three-way fight — then the loyalty of its traditional vote bank coupled with the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre’s achievements would make the situation amenable for new candidates – not to mention emerging as a sure fix for anti-incumbency, a party leader said.
Anti-incumbency factor
“In case there is no alliance between AAP and Congress, the party [BJP] will seek to remove even the remotest possibility of anti-incumbency affecting its vote share by fielding fresh faces,” the leader added.
Time is of the essence now with the process of filing nominations having begun and scheduled to end on April 23, said another leader, adding: “We are ready with multiple combinations [of candidates] and are awaiting a go-ahead from the party’s national leadership to commence candidate-specific campaigns.”
