BJP needs to have a CM face for UP soon

Will it be Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh or former HRD minister now shifted to the Textiles ministry, Smriti Irani? If you are wondering what is being talked about, read on.

Who will be the Chief Ministerial candidate for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Assembly Polls in Uttar Pradesh slated for next year? Congress already has named ex-Delhi CM Sheila Dixit as the one who will take oath as the Chief Minister if the party is elected to serve the people of the state. Samajwadi Party (SP) has the current incumbent Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) need not look beyond party supremo Mayawati.

But what's preventing BJP from choosing its CM candidate especially at a time when its political opponents have taken one step ahead on this front? Probably BJP is spoilt for choice. One is inquisitive to know if there are too many players in the reckonings that's making the selection an arduous process. Or is the party complacent knowing that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is efficient enough to win the hearts of voters?

If the latter is the case, then BJP needs to do some rethinking. The drubbing the party received at the hands of the Mahagatbandhan involving Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Janata Dal (United) in Bihar where it preferred to ride on the Modi wave, should be a learning experience. Perhaps, BJP also looks to its president Amit Shah (who as the man in charge for UP fought all odds to win 71 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls from the state) to see it through.

If that is so, then the ruling party in the centre may not have read the writings on the wall. Assembly Elections are fought on regional issues with charismatic regional leaders leading the campaign. The pattern of voting in state polls is different from that in Parliamentary Elections and the results show: Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal), J Jayalalithaa (Tamil Nadu), Nitish Kumar (Bihar) and Naveen Patnaik (Odisha), to mention a few. 

Congress's choice of Sheila Dixit (78) may raise questions as the outsider tag will haunt her. Her age might also be negative factor. But being the daughter-in-law of Late Uma Shankar Dixit, a popular Brahmin leader from UP and somebody who contested her first elections from the state, the former Delhi CM has enough weapons in her kitty to make political inroads despite attempts to scuttle her efforts. She also has the backing of the Gandhi family and actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar who heads the party in the state.

Elaborating on the regional factors, in Assam BJP got the calculations right by projecting Sarbananda Sonowal as the CM candidate. And the decision paid the party rich dividends when it wrested power from Congress. If one thinks that it's Modi who played an influential role in throwing the Tarun Gogoi-government out of power, he is highly mistaken. Regional factors play a big role and that can only be underscored by a local leader.

Riding solely on Modi's shoulders can boomerang when you look at the results in Delhi and Bihar. Even in West Bengal, BJP could have gained more seats had there been a CM face.

The ball that was set rolling by the BJP president cannot be stopped at this point of time. There's no doubt that it was BJP which kick-started the campaign in UP much before Congress, SP and BSP. But surprisingly, the party seems to have been left behind by its rivals at this point of time.

It's time BJP steals the momentum from its opponents by declaring a CM candidate and taking the attack right into the enemy's camp. Agreed, there are too many equations that need to be addressed and among them the caste card is crucial enough. But time is running out.

Given a choice, Rajnath looks to be the best bet. Himself a former UP Chief Minister and a Brahmin politician with an impeccable record, he has all the credentials to lead BJP's Mission UP. But the question is whether he will agree to relinquish his responsibilities in Delhi and cede ground to Modi and Shah. Despite being at the helm of affairs in the party and playing a crucial role in promoting Modi as the PM aspirant before the Lok Sabha elections two years ago, Rajnath is not known to be a committed Modi supporter. 

So, there are lots on the table for the decision makers in the party. And on top of it, the watchful eyes of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSP) cannot be overlooked. 

But to reiterate, there's paucity of time. Hope the message reaches BJP's headquarters, 11, Ashoka Road, New Delhi.