The BJP said on Thursday it had discussed candidates for 172 seats in next month’s Uttar Pradesh parliamentary elections at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party said it expected a final list soon.
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said the party – which has lost 10 MLAs, including three ministers, in the past 72 hours – will win the 2022 election, with a bigger victory than its 2017 victory.
In 2017, the BJP scored a stunning victory, taking 312 of the 403 seats in the UP. Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi party came (very) second with 47 votes, while the Congress party won only 7 votes.
Today’s meeting – held at the BJP’s Delhi headquarters, where the prime minister virtually attended after a COVID-19 outbreak among staff – should also discuss the possibility of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath running from one of the two temple towns – — Ayodhya or Mathura.
Sources told NDTV yesterday that the prime minister should make a final decision on the matter.
Adityanath has never participated in parliamentary elections. He has previously represented the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat five times and is currently a member of the state’s Legislative Council.
Sources told NDTV that the party is considering the move to build his brand as a Hindu icon in response to the negative press of the massive MLA exits over the past three days; the most recent is Dharam Singh Saini), who resigned minutes before the party’s electoral committee meeting.
Complete News Source : NDTV
