BJP may pitch Ex-Chief Ministers in Lok Sabha polls
Even as the BJP is engaged in a bitter battle in five state assembly polls and fielding sitting MPs, its top leadership is toying with the idea of fielding some former Chief Ministers during the May 2024 Lok Sabha polls. If reports are to be believed, former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Jairam Tahkur may be fielded from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat. He has high credibility and is a trusted man of the RSS. He is being considered to be brought to national politics. Similarly, former Karnataka Chief Minister Basavraj Bommai may also be brought to the national politics and may be fielded during the Lok Sabha polls. He is at loggerheads with powerful Lingayat leader B S Yediyurappa and the BJP has been unable to appoint a Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly due to this tussle. Yediyurappa is insisting that his son be appointed as LoP.
There are reports that former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani may be asked to contest the Lok Sabha polls. The former Tripura CM Biplov Deb is also being considered for the same though currently he is a member of the Rajya Sabha. Both of them were removed prior to the Assembly polls due to reports of anti-incumbency against them. Assam's former Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal, Maharashtra's former CM Narayan Rane & Jharkhand's Arjun Munda are members of the Modi government at present. It is a different matter that a couple of the former CM s like Sadanand Gowda (Karnataka) and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (uttarakhand) were removed after being inducted in the Modi cabinet. A couple of them like Raghubar Das of Jharkhand and Anandi Ben Patel made it to Odisha and UP Raj Bhawans as Governors. There are indications that after the current round of assembly polls, a couple of them may be brought to the Centre.
