The Bharatiya Janata Party shocked everyone by fielding a total of 21 Members of Parliament in the recently concluded Assembly polls across the four states. These included the then Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, who was asked to contest the Madhya Pradesh elections, and former minister Prahlad Patel was also asked to contest from Madhya Pradesh. In Rajasthan, former Union minister Rajyavardhan Rathore was asked to fight from the Jothwara seat, and he is now a minister in the Rajasthan Government. The Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan Diya Kumar was also an MP when she was asked to contest from Vidhyadhar Nagar near Jaipur. Out of the 21 MPs who fought across the four states, 12 won the election.
Now, talks in the corridor of power at the national capital, say that the BJP is considering making many of its ministers from the upper house contest the upcoming general elections. The sources in the BJP hinted that this move is “under active consideration”. The final call regarding this will be taken by the Central Election Committee of the BJP. Let us have a look at certain names that have been considered for a while now.
Nirmala Sitharaman
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman who is currently a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka, is one of the names that is in consideration. The BJP leadership may ask her to fight the polls from any seat in Tamil Nadu. Sitharaman was born in a Tamil family in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. She did her schooling in Chennai. The BJP is looking to make inroads in this state, on its own after the break up with its long-term ally AIADMK.
There is also a lobby in the BJP who doesn’t want Nirmala to contest, as Nirmala winning the election will make her vacate the Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka, and in that case, the seat of the upper house from the state will go to Congress. The BJP is still trying to make its position strong in Rajya Sabha, and a reduction in an MP will make the target difficult for the BJP. The BJP will decide whether Nirmala contesting or not soon.
Ashwini Vaishnaw
The former bureaucrat was brought into the upper house in 2019 from the state of Odisha due to his long administrative experience. He was appointed as the railway minister in 2021 during the cabinet reshuffle. Sources say the BJP wants to field him from a seat either in Rajasthan or Odisha. He was born in Rajasthan and studied there, Vaishnaw worked as an officer in Cuttack and Balasore for a long time. His quick approach during the rescue mission after the Balasore train accident is said to have impressed the party’s high command. Vaishnaw himself wants to contest from Odisha, and if he contests from Odisha there is a possibility that he can also get support from the BJD.
Sarbananda Sonowal
The former Chief Minister of Assam was shifted to Delhi after Himanta Biswa Sarma was appointed as the Chief Minister. Sonowal was given the charge of the Shipping Ministry in the Narendra Modi cabinet. He was also a member of Modi’s cabinet before he became the Chief Minister of Assam. Sonowal was then an MP from Lakhimpur and this time too he may contest from Lakhimpur or his home constituency Dibrugarh.
Bhupendra Yadav
Yadav, Amit Shah’s go-to man played a key role in BJP’s Gujarat election win in 2022 and Madhya Pradesh’s victory in 2023, is another name that is in speculation. Currently, he is the environment minister and a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan. Yadav may be fielded from either Haryana or Rajasthan, as he was born in Ajmer, and he also enjoys good support in Haryana. It is not known to many that his ancestral home is in Gurugram. He had a great influence in the belt of Gurugram, Rewari, and Manesar. He has a good chance of winning from both the states.
Jyotiraditya Scindia
After the results of the MP Assembly elections came, it was speculated that Scindia would be given the responsibility of the Chief Ministership. But the BJP put all speculations to rest after it elected Mohan Yadav as the new CM of the state. The former Congress leader joined the BJP in 2020 and is currently serving as the Union Minister for Civil Aviation and also is a member of Rajya Sabha from his home state Madhya Pradesh. In 2019, he fought the Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket from Guna in MP and lost to the BJP. There are rumours that Scindia too may be asked to fight the Lok Sabha election this time from Madhya Pradesh. The Prime Minister is also happy with his performance as a minister and he played a key role in India’s various rescue missions, especially during the Russia – Ukraine conflict.
Mansukh Mandaviya
Mandaviya comes from the prominent Patidar caste of Gujarat. He enjoys good support from the Prime Minister due to his performance as an MP and for the role he played during COVID19 in his area despite not being a minister back then. He played a key role in the supply of oxygen in the hospitals of his constituency which are mainly located in the interior area. His performance as an MP made him earn the cabinet berth in the reshuffle of Modi Government in 2021. He may be asked to contest from a seat in Gujarat