The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a tough task at hand to finalize itscandidate for Kanpur Lok Sabha seat. Party leaders are in search of a candidate who could match the political stature of Congress candidate Sriprakash Jaiswal. Although sitting MP Murli Manohar Joshi continues to stakeclaim forthe ticket for contesting the poll from here, the party seems to be in a mood to bring in a new face.

Among the probable candidates for the seat are deputy chief minister Dinesh Sharma, UP minister for industries Satish Mahana, spokesman of the party Sudhanshu Trivedi and the party’s city president Surendra Maithani. Sources close to the party feel that the task of selecting a candidate for Kanpur seat would be achieved after ground assessment by party leader Smriti Irani on Sunday. She is slated to address a public meeting at Shastri Nagar, a part of Govind Nagar assembly constituency, here and likely to hold discussions with senior party leaders in connection with the election strategy. It is believed that locals are unhappy with Joshi for taking little interest in revival of the closed National Textile Corporation (NTC)and other industries. While theCongress candidatewon the seat thrice in a row -- 1999, 2004 and 2009 -- and has a good following among industrial workers, traders and Brahmins, he is known for his easy accessibility to the people as against the sitting MP, who most of the time remained in his hometown Allahabad or Delhi. The BJP high command is likely to name its candidate after considering these factors to counter the Congress candidate’s popularity. LocalBJP leaders are surprised over Sunday’s public meeting without declaring the candidate for the city seat.According to Maithani, “Since, as per party guidelines, election meetings were to start from March 24, the Kanpurmeeting has been scheduled on the very first day.” The public meetings would continue even if the name of the candidate was not finalized, he said. “The party high command would work according to its own convenience and we will carry out the schedule given to us,” he added. He said the party’s target was to strengthen ‘Kamal’ (BJP’s poll symbol) to ensure the return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The meeting was an exercise in this direction, he added. However, some party leaders here feel that holding public a meeting in Govind Nagar assembly constituency was an indication that Satish Mahana, who represented the constituency, was far ahead in the race for the MP ticket from the city.

SIGNIFICANCE

The Kanpurseat is of high significance for the BJP, which held it from 1991 to 1999 and wrested it from the Congress in 2014. In addition, the BJP has been dominating the Kanpur Municipal Corporation (KMC) for last 15 years—the current mayor is the party'sthird in a row—and has eight MLAs of 10 assembly segments.

With Brahmins accounting for 20% of the total votes, the BJP is expected to field an upper caste candidate.

First Published: Mar 24, 2019 09:31 IST