Modi takes holi dip in Varanasi; Rajnath heads for Lucknow, Jaitley to debut in Amritsar Putting speculations to rest, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday announced its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi would contest the Varanasi seat in Uttar Pradesh after sitting parliamentarian Murli Manohar Joshi gave in to the pressure from top leadership. The BJPs poll committee finalised its fourth list of 98 candidates from 12 states, including UP, at a marathon meeting of top leaders in New Delhi. BJP national general secretary Ananth Kumar said at a press conference held late on Saturday night that the party would publish another list next Wednesday. The BJP decided to field senior leader and Rajya Sabha member Arun Jaitley from Amritsar. Actor Kirron Kher will contest the Chandigarh seat against Aam Aadmi Partys (AAPs) Gul Panag and Congress Pawan Bansal. In Bihar, Shatrughan Sinha will contest the Patna Sahib seat. With Modi finally getting the green light to contest the Varanasi seat, all eyes are now on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, who has launched a scathing attack on the Gujarat chief minister in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. The rookie party has hinted at a direct fight between Modi and Kejriwal in the 2014 polls. We will have to review our decision that no MLA can contest Lok Sabha elections, AAP spokesperson Nagendar Sharma said, confirming there was every possibility of Kejriwal taking on Modi. Meanwhile, celebrations started in Varanasi much before the Gujarat chief ministers name was announced for the seat. Modis supporters burst firecrackers and danced to drumbeats in the holy city. Modis nomination for the seat, however, was a tough challenge for the saffron party, which hopes to put up a spectacular show in UP under his leadership. BJP workers supporters celebrate after Narendra Modi in Varanasi. (PTI photo) Modis rallies in UP ahead of the polls were a huge success, giving the BJP a shot in the arm and making stronger the Modi from Varanasi chorus. Besides, exit polls have also predicted a huge gain for the BJP in UP, where Muslims make up 20% of the population and have 17% of the vote share. But media reports suggest that with Joshi initially putting his foot down after being asked to make way for Modi, the BJPs unity in politically vibrant UP, which has the highest Lok Sabha seats in the country, has suffered a blow. Besides, the BJP brass had to burn the midnight oil to pacify dissidents in UP including Kalraj Mishra, who wanted to contest from Kanpur. Mishra will now fight from the Deoria seat near Gorakhpur. Varun Gandhi will contest the Sultanpur seat, while his mother Maneka Gandhi will fight from Pilibhit.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 06:52:03 +0000
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