Senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Venkaiah Naidu may not contest Lok Sabha polls

NEW DELHI: Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and five other senior BJP members of the Upper House may not contest the Lok Sabha polls and devote all their energies to running the campaign of the saffron party.

BJP sources said top brass of the party took the decision a few days back that Jaitley; BJP Vice President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi; general secretaries Thawarchand Gehlot, J P Nadda and Dharmendra Pradhan; and former party president M Venkaiah Naidu should not enter the fray in the forthcoming general elections.

These leaders, known for their organizational skills, will plan out the campaign strategy, analyze the way the campaign is heading and reveive feedbacks from the ground, as well as direct the candidates to do course correction wherever they are found deviating from the party’s agenda and plans.

The performance of candidates and leaders in rallies, on news channels and other media would also be under scrutiny. The team, backed by lower rung leaders, will form the core team for the central leadership of the BJP.

However, a final call on this issue will be taken only after the second Central Election Committee meeting of the party to be held on March 8. “I have decided not to contest the Lok Sabha elections. I will devote my time to working for the party election campaign. I have been assigned certain responsibilities in these polls,” M Venkaiah Naidu told ET.