Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday dropped hints that the BJP could be considering fresh faces in some constituencies by saying that the party’s list of candidates will have “new experiments”.
Bommai said this ahead of the BJP’s two-day core committee meeting that started Tuesday to finalise candidates for the May 10 Assembly election.
“Definitely, in several seats new experiments will be done,” Bommai said to a question on the possibility of the BJP fielding ‘surprise’ candidates. “In some constituencies, you will also see a surprise result,” he said without elaborating.
Bommai’s statement adds credence to speculation that the BJP could deny tickets to some sitting MLAs to beat anti-incumbency.
Last month, BJP strongman B S Yediyurappa, who is a member of the party’s central parliamentary board, said 4-6 MLAs may not get tickets. In December, Yediyurappa did not rule out a Gujarat-like denial of tickets to sitting MLAs.
Bommai, who heads the BJP’s election campaign committee, said party workers and leaders across the state are enthused. “If one observes the developments that have taken place in the last 3-4 months, in the run-up to the election, there are signs that the BJP will win a majority,” he said.
The BJP is choosing candidates “based on ground reality” and “in a democratic manner”, Bommai said, referring to a statewide voting that was held last week giving grassroots office-bearers a say on who should be the party’s candidates.
Bommai also downplayed the impact of party leaders switching over to the BJP. “There are more than 120 BJP MLAs already. There are aspirants as well. When aspirants know that they can’t get an opportunity to contest, some 2-3 people left,” Bommai said. “This won’t have any effect on the BJP’s election effort.”
Bommai also said that lawmakers who defected from the Congress-JD(S) coalition in 2019 will not quit the BJP. “They’re simply floating names. It won’t happen,” he said.
According to BJP national general secretary C T Ravi, the party will finalise all 224 candidates before April 20, which is the last date to file nominations.
Asked about the threat of backlash from party workers over the choice of candidates in some constituencies, Ravi said: “Such things happen when aspirants are more because chances of winning are high. We will make sure everything is under control.”