NEW DELHI: Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the ruling BJP is mulling fielding big guns in polls to boost the party’s prospects and send a message of confidence to the cadres.
Although there is no official word on the matter, sources say discussions have been held on fielding senior Rajya Sabha members who have completed two or more terms and acquired a considerable public profile during their stint in the upper House.
Currently, there are 14 senior BJP leaders in the Rajya Sabha who have either completed two terms and are into the third or are about to complete two terms.
These include Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka, who will complete her third RS term in 2028; Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, into his third RS term (currently from Maharashtra) which ends in 2028; Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, RS MP from Rajasthan, who will complete his second term in 2024; Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan whose second term ends in 2024; Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri who will complete his second RS term in 2026; Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat, completing his second term in 2024; and MoS Electronics Rajeev Chandrasekhar, into his third RS term from Karnataka.
BJP’s other Rajya Sabha MPs with more than one term are ex-minister Prakash Javadekar whose third term ends in 2024; Bhubaneswar Kalita whose fifth term ends in 2026; SS Nagar (from UP), completing his third term in 2028; CM Ramesh (from AP) completing the third term in 2024; Neeraj Shekhar (from UP), whose third term ends in 2026; and BJP general secretary Arun Singh whose second term ends in 2026. BJP president JP Nadda’s second Rajya Sabha term from Himachal also ends next year.
Asked if Nadda could contest 2024 elections, sources said conventionally BJP presidents don’t contest LS polls as they are engaged with strategy and planning. Amit Shah was an exception when he, as BJP chief, fought and won the 2019 LS election from Gujarat’s Gandhinagar.
“Nadda could be a good candidate from Kangra in Himachal, but party presidents don’t normally contest in the BJP,” said a leader.
Meanwhile, BJP’s Madurai urban district has passed a resolution urging Sitharaman to contest the 2024 LS polls from Madurai. She was born in Madurai in Tamil Nadu, where the BJP is scouting for candidates having resolved to win 25 of 39 LS seats. The party currently has none. Hardeep Puri had contested 2019 LS polls from Amritsar and lost to Congress’ Gurjit Aujla.
While a section in the BJP feels fielding seniors could yield dividends in a high-stakes election when PM Narendra Modi will run for the third consecutive term in office (so far only late Jawaharlal Nehru has returned as PM thrice in a row), another cites risks of the strategy, recalling then Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley’s 2014 LS poll loss Congress’ Amarinder Singh in Amritsar despite the Modi wave.