UP assembly elections: Amit Shah plans trip to UP as BJP eyes dropping 1/3rd of MLAs

LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI: Union home minister Amit Shah will arrive in Lucknow on October 29 to flag off a mega membership drive of BJP and hold consultations with state functionaries on poll preparations that suggest the party is considering benching one-third of the sitting legislators.

BJP sources said that Shah, who is likely to stay overnight in Lucknow, is likely to sound the state leadership out on the feasibility of dropping almost 100 of its incumbent legislators who are perceived to be handicapped because of voter dissatisfaction with their performance.

BJP’s MLAs include many who were inducted from other parties before the 2017 elections to make up for the party’s lack of organisational strength. There are several others who have accumulated “incumbent’s disadvantage” that may prevent the party from cashing in on the goodwill for PM Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath, sources said.

Dumping a whole clutch of incumbents, many of them resourceful in their own individual right, can be a fraught exercise, and the fear of a backlash often leads political parties to err on the side of caution. Sources acknowledge that large-scale changes can never be “risk proof”, but said that BJP under Modi-Shah has not flinched from taking risks.

It is also pointed out that unlike in 2017, when the party organisation lacked muscle, it now boasts of an organisation formidable enough to armorplate itself against “sabotage”. Shah, as general secretary in charge of UP and later as party president, had broadened the party’s base and masterminded the party’s spectacular victories in two

Lok Sabha

and one assembly contest, and the party is keen to build on that advantage.

On Friday, the party is set to kick off a membership drive, which aims to add more than 1.5 crore new members. The party already has around 2.3 crore members in the state: the massive count includes lakhs of those who have affirmed their preference for the party by giving “missed calls” on a dedicated number shared by the party.

Party sources say senior leaders have been working on the feedback about performance of the sitting MLAs and those that are found lacking look set to be replaced. The state unit is hopeful that

Shah

would be able to ensure that the likely discards remain within the fold and don’t work against BJP.

During 2014 LS polls, Shah had put together a rainbow coalition of Swarna and non-Yadav OBC castes that has paid huge dividends even in successive polls. He also played a key role in alliances with castebased parties. His visit to Lucknow indicates that Shah, despite being busy with responsibilities as home minister, will have an increased role in the UP polls. After the 2014 LS polls, Modi had publicly acknowledged Shah’s contribution to the party’s emphatic win in the state and had termed him the “man of series”.

The membership drive gains significance as BJP has set a target of improving upon its tally of 312 seats it won in 2017 assembly elections, while cornering 39.67% votes.