Clamorworld Special: No Candidate List Yet From BJP

The race for Gujarat elections is heating up. But even as we wait with baited breath for the hottest event this winter, something’s rather intriguing. Neither BJP or Congress have come out with their final list. Particularly, in BJP’s case, which has won 5 consecutive elections in the state, it seems like they are playing it very safe.

Despite the 22 years of rule in the state, the Bharatiya Janata Party seems rather unsure about the best candidates that they would want to field. There is one school of thought that believes that BJP is carefully weighing its options to tackle the anti-incumbency factor. The then Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, had denied tickets to 47 MLAs before the 2007 elections and 30 sitting MLAs before the 2012 elections. The idea was to ensure BJP’s victory in the state and make sure not a single constituency falls prey to the anti-incumbency factor.

There is another theory that’s doing the rounds. Many election analysts believe that BJP is waiting for Congress to declare its list. They feel based on the kind of candidates that Congress fields, they will declare the final list. As of now there are nearly 3 hopefuls for every seat but no clarity still on who’s going to be the final one. It seems even Congress has not firmed up its list and they are also playing the wait and watch game. It needs to be seen then which party blinks the first.

This tactic to delay the final candidate list is nothing new. Even if you see the Himachal Pradesh elections, the BJP released its list rather late. Even earlier this year during the UP elections, the BJP waited until January end to release the fial list for the elections due in February.

The other possibility is that BJP might be facing a problem of plenty and therefore taking its time to deliberate on the right candidate for every seat. Many influential and local bigwigs have expressed their intent to align with BJP given the successful track record and  better chance of winning.

Guess as observers too, we have to wait and watch for the exaact game plan to unfold.

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