This might be the reason why BJP has not declared its candidates to contest election from Mumbai city.
The Bhartiya Janata Party is in a dilemma whether to field Marathi or Gujarati candidates for the upcoming LokSabha election. Some party workers is in favour of fielding Gujarati candidatesas BJP’s prime ministerial candidate NarendraModi hails from Gujarat and the party will benefit from this move. There is a sizeable number of Gujarati population in the city.
When AV spoke to a senior BJP leader he was in favour of fielding Maharashtrian candidate if the party wants to make a major impact in the forthcoming LokSabha election.
“The BJP should field Marathi candidates in Maharashtra as there are more Marathi speaking people in the state. Fielding candidates from Gujarati community will prove counterproductive for the party. I don’t want more seats to be allotted to Gujarati candidates” said the BJP leader on the condition of anonymity.
“BJP leader KiritSomaiya must not be offered a ticket to contest election fromNorth East Mumbaieven though more Gujarati people reside there. Instead PoonamMahajan, National secretary of BJP should be fielded from this constituency as she is a Maharashtrian and can attract Marathi voters” he added further.
The sources also cited the example of Maharashtra NavnirmanSena (MNS)which has managed to garner Marathi votes. The party also has been responsible for splitting the Marathi votes thereby weakening the Shiv Sena. The BJP too can take a leaf out of MNS’s books and field more Marathi candidates for the forthcoming election which will prove beneficial for the party.
It won’t be beneficial for the party to field non Marathi candidates like ManojKamboj, GopalShetty, KiritSomaiya for the upcoming election.
AshishShelar and SmritiIrani are in fray for contesting election from theMumbai North Central constituency in which the former is a Maharashtrain while Smriti is a Gujrati candidate.Since both of them are capable leaders hence it is becoming difficult for the party to decide who should contest election from this constituency.
While some other leaders from the saffron party also suggested thata combination of all the three communities such as Gujarati, Maharashtrian and Uttar Bhartiya candidates will prove beneficial for the party.
When asked about how much seats the BJP will be able to win he replied, “Right now, it is difficult to answer how much seats will be won by our party. A clear picture will emerge only after the conclusion of LokSabha election.”
