Delayed BJP candidate list

Bengaluru : Even while the Indian National Congress has cleared the list of 162 candidates for the assembly elections to Karnataka 2023, the BJP appears to have been caught in a quagmire of fear of loss in elections. With barely 30 days to go for the polling (10 May 2023), The BJP is yet to announce even one list.

It could be recalled that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai before emplaning to Delhi on Saturday beaming with a candidate list had told the media that "nothing but the winnability of the candidate mattered" But even after two days of hectic parleys and meetings with a panel headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national chief JP Nadda, Home minister Amit Shah the list is yet to be released.

The deadline to file nominations is just 3 days away, which has led the aspirants into some kind of uncertainty. According to the internal sources of the party, 16 sitting MLAs and 22 current ministers may get the axe from contesting including senior Legislator K S Eshwarappa from Shivamogga and S Angara six times MLA from the reserved constituency of Sullia in Dakshina Kannada district.

There will be as many as 16 new faces to replace the existing MLAs and 22 others who will replace the sitting MLAs and ministers. More people are likely to be relegated to party work for the coming Lok Sabha elections in 2024. The list which might be announced sometime on Tuesday (11 April) or on the morning of 12 May is not fully formed say the sources.

What is BJP afraid of? Is it the fear of loss? Till the evening of Monday, the BJP top bosses had only the list of 200 candidates and the rest of the 24 seats could be announced on Thursday morning. The Congress list might have spooked the BJP as the former had gone to the grassroots level candidates based on the micro-management of the caste factors. The fear factor running deep in the BJP leadership might have stemmed from the three surveys that have indicated an upper hand to the Congress party in the last month. In another scenario, the BJP is also fearing the loss of the Lingayat belt following the downfall of BS Yeddyurappa, point out the political pundits.