UP polls: No chief ministerial face may hurt us, say BJP leaders

LUCKNOW:The absence of a chief ministerial face seems to be hurting the BJP in UP, according to the party’s local leaders. They said the party may be putting off a decision in this regard because of its efforts to avoid a tussle between multiple contenders and the absence of a mass leader other than Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who is not inclined to pitch himself for CM role again.

“All three other parties – the SP, BSP and even Congress – have a CM face. Our biggest face is the PM and plank of development. But the same position was in the Bihar which we lost badly,” a state BJP functionary told ET on condition of anonymity. While Yogi Adityanath, Kalraj Mishra, Manoj Sinha and a few OBC leaders are seen as contenders, none of them is believed to have an appeal across regions in the state.

This could hurt the party’s prospects in some regions, party members said. Declaration of a name just five six months ahead of the polls could trigger tussle and dissent, which could hamper the party’s chances, they said. “Further, state leaders are not happy with the induction of outsiders from BSP,” a senior BJP leader said.

He conceded that the Congress has taken the lead in the campaign with Rahul Gandhi’s yatra while BJP is grappling with the CM face dilemma. “Congress strategists need to be complimented for the effort. BJP is working on booth-level committees where workers have been trained to propagate the central schemes to people. It is not as if our campaign has not started,” the leader said. Another party functionary, however, said Congress ran the risk of “peaking too early” with the yatra.

“The BJP mass campaign is still to come,” he said. Nonetheless, the party workers said, the electorate may still vote on caste lines, with Yadavs backing the SP despite the infighting in the ruling clan and the BSP counting on Dalit-Muslim consolidation. “The Congress is cutting into our Brahmin vote bank, aiming to spoil our votes,” a local BJP leader said.