The BJP is set to announce its first list of 140-odd candidates today.
New Delhi:
Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's firm no to family members of party men contesting polls, the BJP has been swamped with requests on behalf of relatives and some may even slip into the final list, say sources.
Some four dozen BJP leaders have requested that their relatives be given a chance to contest in Uttar Pradesh, where polls will be held on five days in February and March.
At least 50 sons, daughters and relatives are said to be in the queue, undeterred by PM Modi's strong views. He has often attacked the Samajwadi Party as a "baap-beta" or father-son party.
The party is set to announce its first list of 140-odd candidates for the first day of polling on February 4 after a meeting of its Central Election Committee headed by president Amit Shah yesterday. The list is expected to be an indicator of the caste and community spin the BJP will drive in the coming polls.
In the previous polls held in the state - the 2014 national election - the BJP's spectacular haul of 71 of 80 seats was partly credited to the polarization of votes after the riots in Muzaffarnagar.
This time, PM Modi's pro-development pitch will be the main consideration while choosing candidates, the BJP says.
Party leaders are upbeat about their chances, despite fighting without a chief ministerial candidate and despite facing a tough fight from Mayawati's BSP and even a divided Samajwadi Party.
''The surgical strike and the demonetisation exercise have pushed the PM as the best vote-getter and the public is responding enthusiastically - so much so the party may go past the half-way mark," said a UP BJP core committee member.
Expectations of a victory has translated into a race for tickets among the relatives of senior party functionaries.
Home Minister Rajnath singh's son Pankaj tops the list of such aspirants; he reportedly wants to contest from Noida or Sahibabad in Ghaziabad district. Rajnath singh had won the Ghaziabad seat in 2009.
Union Minister Kalraj Mishra's son Amit Mishra has dropped hints that he expects a ticket. His followers have bombarded parts of Lucknow, especially around the BJP state headquarters, with his posters.
Another Lucknow bigwig, Lalji Tandon, was refused the Governor's job in 2014, but his son Ashutosh hopes to make it to an assembly seat.
The BJP's newest members are also not far behind in expecting tickets to contest.
Ex-Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi and former leader of the BSP or Bahujan Samaj Party, Swami Prasad Maurya, are reportedly campaigning for tickets for their relatives. Ms Joshi is said to be trying for her son Mayank's nomination while Mr Maurya reportedly wants son Utkarsha and daughter Sanghmitra both to contest.
Another ex-BSP leader now with BJP, Brajesh Pathak, wants a ticket for his son from Unnao near Kanpur.
Hukum Singh, the controversial BJP lawmaker from Kairana who raised a storm with his claims that Hindus were migrating from the area, wants a ticket for his daughter Mrigyanka Singh.
Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh's son Rajveer Singh, a parliamentarian from Etah, wants his son or wife to reach the state assembly and he is said to be negotiating a deal through his father for at least one ticket in Bulandshahr in western UP.
Devendra Bhole, BJP's sitting MP from Kanpur Dehat, wants a ticket for his son.
Keshav Prasad Maurya has his task cut out. He needs the support of all sitting MPs and leaders during the campaign and can't afford to displease any of them.
The list is long - Moradabad MP Sarvesh Singh, sources say, wants a ticket for his son Sudhansu or wife Sadhna.
BP Mishra, the lawmaker from Banda, is asking for a ticket for nephew Prakash from Karvi, a BSP stronghold. Rekha Verma, the MP from Dhaurehra, reportedly wants a ticket for her niece.
Amroha MP Kanwar Singh Tanwar reportedly wants the Garhmukteshwar assembly seat for his son. Abhishek Pal, the son of Domariaganj MP Jagdambika Pal, is also an aspirant.
Some four dozen BJP leaders have requested that their relatives be given a chance to contest in Uttar Pradesh, where polls will be held on five days in February and March.
At least 50 sons, daughters and relatives are said to be in the queue, undeterred by PM Modi's strong views. He has often attacked the Samajwadi Party as a "baap-beta" or father-son party.
The party is set to announce its first list of 140-odd candidates for the first day of polling on February 4 after a meeting of its Central Election Committee headed by president Amit Shah yesterday. The list is expected to be an indicator of the caste and community spin the BJP will drive in the coming polls.
In the previous polls held in the state - the 2014 national election - the BJP's spectacular haul of 71 of 80 seats was partly credited to the polarization of votes after the riots in Muzaffarnagar.
This time, PM Modi's pro-development pitch will be the main consideration while choosing candidates, the BJP says.
Party leaders are upbeat about their chances, despite fighting without a chief ministerial candidate and despite facing a tough fight from Mayawati's BSP and even a divided Samajwadi Party.
''The surgical strike and the demonetisation exercise have pushed the PM as the best vote-getter and the public is responding enthusiastically - so much so the party may go past the half-way mark," said a UP BJP core committee member.
Expectations of a victory has translated into a race for tickets among the relatives of senior party functionaries.
Home Minister Rajnath singh's son Pankaj tops the list of such aspirants; he reportedly wants to contest from Noida or Sahibabad in Ghaziabad district. Rajnath singh had won the Ghaziabad seat in 2009.
Union Minister Kalraj Mishra's son Amit Mishra has dropped hints that he expects a ticket. His followers have bombarded parts of Lucknow, especially around the BJP state headquarters, with his posters.
Another Lucknow bigwig, Lalji Tandon, was refused the Governor's job in 2014, but his son Ashutosh hopes to make it to an assembly seat.
The BJP's newest members are also not far behind in expecting tickets to contest.
Ex-Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi and former leader of the BSP or Bahujan Samaj Party, Swami Prasad Maurya, are reportedly campaigning for tickets for their relatives. Ms Joshi is said to be trying for her son Mayank's nomination while Mr Maurya reportedly wants son Utkarsha and daughter Sanghmitra both to contest.
Another ex-BSP leader now with BJP, Brajesh Pathak, wants a ticket for his son from Unnao near Kanpur.
Hukum Singh, the controversial BJP lawmaker from Kairana who raised a storm with his claims that Hindus were migrating from the area, wants a ticket for his daughter Mrigyanka Singh.
Rajasthan Governor Kalyan Singh's son Rajveer Singh, a parliamentarian from Etah, wants his son or wife to reach the state assembly and he is said to be negotiating a deal through his father for at least one ticket in Bulandshahr in western UP.
Devendra Bhole, BJP's sitting MP from Kanpur Dehat, wants a ticket for his son.
Keshav Prasad Maurya has his task cut out. He needs the support of all sitting MPs and leaders during the campaign and can't afford to displease any of them.
The list is long - Moradabad MP Sarvesh Singh, sources say, wants a ticket for his son Sudhansu or wife Sadhna.
BP Mishra, the lawmaker from Banda, is asking for a ticket for nephew Prakash from Karvi, a BSP stronghold. Rekha Verma, the MP from Dhaurehra, reportedly wants a ticket for her niece.
Amroha MP Kanwar Singh Tanwar reportedly wants the Garhmukteshwar assembly seat for his son. Abhishek Pal, the son of Domariaganj MP Jagdambika Pal, is also an aspirant.
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