BJP may announce candidates early on 'weak' Lok Sabha seats
BJP is toying with the idea of announcing candidates, even before the announcement of the 2024 general election schedule, for 160 seats which the party has identified as 'weak' and where it has carried out a massive exercise to strengthen its standing, sources said. A lot of these 'weak' seats have been identified in South and East India and the BJP hopes early announcement of candidates can give the candidates the first-mover advantage to beat its rivals.
These 160 seats, which include Lok Sabha constituencies of some political heavyweights, were divided into 40 clusters, and a massive exercise was carried out spanning over several months, involving many senior leaders and Union ministers who prepared the roadmap and strengthened the party organisation on the ground by spending several days there.
The list includes Bareilly Lok Sabha constituency of former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Mainpuri constituency of Dimple Yadav, wife of SP chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.
In all these seats either BJP president JP Nadda or senior party leader Amit Shah have addressed a rally each.
The BJP is now contemplating announcing Lok Sabha candidates on many of these seats much ahead of the actual polls so that the candidates can avail the first-movers' advantage, and get ample time to consolidate theirs and the party's position, sources said.
Most of these seats are in southern and eastern states, where BJP has yet to taste power on its own. Therefore, the party's central leadership feels it should start early.
