Lok Sabha polls: Varanasi, Lucknow, Faizabad & Kanpur emerge as a potential trouble spot for BJP

LUCKNOW: Though the opinion polls have put the BJP ahead in the race for the Lok Sabha elections, many senior party leaders in the party are bickering over seats, sensing that it’s their opportunity to take a shot at power in Delhi. The absence of any names from Uttar Pradesh in BJP’s first list of candidates last week was a clear reflection of the tensions prevailing within the party.

So much so that critical seats like Varanasi, Lucknow, Faizabad and Kanpur have become trouble spots – and a source of embarrassment – for the party. While pressure mounts on sitting MP from Lucknow Lalji Tandon to vacate his seat for party president Rajnath Singh, he has indicated that he’s no pushover.

BJP leader Narendra Singh Rana, seen close to Tandon, is more guarded when he says, “It will all be decided by the party’s central committee.” The picture is the same in Varanasi: while sitting MP Murli Manohar Joshi is in campaign gear, Modi supporters are aggressively lobbying for his candidature from the holy city.

RSS worker Basant LalJaiswal, closely associated with Joshi’s re-election campaign, said that “Joshi would be staying in the city for a day and attending pro -grammes as part of his campaign”, indicating that Joshi is going to contest from Varanasi.

However, the pressure on Joshi to vacate his seat continues with the “Namo (Narendra Modi) Army” district president Dharmendra Gupta saying that they will be launching a signature campaign to demand Modi’s candidature from the city.

“We will launch a signature campaign on Tuesday demanding Modi’s candidature from the city. Joshiji should listen to the people’s demand and shift to some other seat,” said Gupta.

The proposal to shift Joshi to Kanpur has raised another problem for the BJP. Its leader Kalraj Mishra, who is currently an MLA from Lucknow-East, was said to have been unofficially asked by senior leaders to contest from the Brahmindominated Kanpur. But if Joshi is moved to Kanpur, it could cause heartburn for Mishra as well.

The BJP is also keen to field firebrand leader Uma Bharti from Faizabad, which includes Ayodhya. Vinay Katiyar, who had represented the seat till 1999, had lost in successive polls. With the sentiment in its favour, BJP wants to win this seat back. Katiyar has already staked his claim from here, triggering further discord within the party.