FILE photo: Senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi
After four decades in active politics, BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi has observed, "I don't know what sin I have committed to have entered politics."
The 80-year-old Mr Joshi was in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, on Wednesday, and attended a
bhajan recital that clearly moved him. It was there that he also said, "I am a student of science who got stuck in politics. I don't know if you get to see what all is happening around me but I am sure Baba Bholenath (Lord Shiva) can see it clearly. After all this when I reach a place of music, it feels like I am back among humans."
The beleaguered Dr Joshi faces the prospect of losing his seat to the BJP's prime ministerial candidate
Narendra Modi for next month's general elections. There is a growing clamour in the party's Uttar Pradesh unit that Mr Modi be fielded from the temple town. They say that fielding Mr Modi from Varanasi will help the party draw voters in a state that sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha. They also expect such a move to give the party an advantage in neighbouring Bihar, also a crucial state with 40 seats.
The BJP's 19-member central election committee, which includes both Mr Modi and Dr Joshi, apart from party president Rajnath Singh and other senior leaders, will begin finalising candidates today. It is first expected to clear names for constituencies where there is no tussle or controversy.
(Read)Mr Modi could contest two seats and one from home state Gujarat could be announced later today, said sources. But whether he will contest from Varanasi in Dr Joshi's stead may be decided only later. Varanasi votes in a latter phase on May 12.
Dr Joshi is loath to change his seat. If he is shifted from Varanasi, he might have to contest from Kanpur, where union minister Sriprakash Jaiswal has won the last three times.
The BJP veteran taught physics at the Allahabad University. He was also a three-term MP from Allahabad before losing in 2004. He then shifted to Varanasi in 2009 and won.