BJP not to project Chief Minister in Uttar Pradesh polls
The decision was taken as a result of rampant factionalism in the state unit
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2014-11-16 01:21 GMT
Lucknow: The BJP has decided to contest the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh without projecting a chief ministerial candidate.“As of now, we have decided to go for UP elections without a ‘face.’ We will bank on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal and the development work that our government is doing. People now vote for development and the ‘face’ does not matter to them,” said senior leader Om Mathur, who is now in charge of party’s UP affairs.
Citing the examples of Maharashtra and Haryana polls, where the BJP did not project its CM candidates, Mr Mathur said that the results proved that work matters and not just the face.The BJP’s decision to not project a CM candidate in Uttar Pradesh is apparently a result of rampant factionalism in the state unit that has prevailed since the past one-and-a-half decades. Factionalism in the UP BJP has divided the state unit down to the grassroots level. Projecting one leader as the CM candidate would automatically put other leaders on the warpath.
Mr Mathur said that the party would be revamped by March-April next year and office-bearers would not be nominated. “Efforts will be made to select candidates for posts through consensus or election so that sycophants can be kept away,” he said.