BJP to spring mega surprise in first list of candidates: Should Modi opt for a Muslim-stronghold seat? FM Nirmala may contest, a few former cops also likely in various states

FM Nirmala Sitharaman may contest from Tamil Nadu, a few former cops also likely in various states.

Should Modi also opt for Muslim-stronghold constituency or a seat in south India besides Varanasi?   

The saffron party may release its first list of candidates by January end shortly after the mega Jan 22, 2024 Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya.

The first list of candidates is certain to have some prominent names including Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi. The party strategists may surprise foes and friends alike by fielding Modi also from a east India constituency or a southern state.

BJP's Tamil Nadu unit president Annamalai, also a former cop, may contest himself. 

He has lost assembly election Aravakurichi assembly constituency in Karur district in the 2021 Tamil Nadu state legislative assembly elections. But he is a popular face in a state where the saffron needs to make deeper penetration.

Annamali himself had suggested that PM Modi should contest from one of the southern states. 

Amid buzz that the Prime Minister may contest from Tamil Nadu in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, state BJP chief K Annamalai had said in January 2023 itself that Modi has transcended the regional/state barrier and is considered as an "insider' and not an "outsider" in the state.

In eastern India, Modi may opt for temple city of Puri. Such moves can have positive fallout in favour of the Lotus party in a few adjoining seats too. The saffron party will need to do well in two eastern states of West Bengal and Odisha. 

Should Narendra Modi also contest from a Muslim-stronghold constituency? An incumbent Prime Minister himself contesting can always make things easier. 

If this decision is taken the BJP can easily make a claim of its growing acceptability among Muslims. In the monthly radio programme Maan-Ki-Baat for December 2023, Muslim women have already addressed Modi as 'Bhai jaan'.

Among union ministers, several Rajya Sabha members are certainly to be fielded from winnable parliamentary segments across the country. 

They include Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, FM Nirmala Sitharaman and Rajeev Chandrashekhar.

Pradhan will be tried from his home state Odisha, Ms Sitharaman may contest from Coimbatore and even External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar's name is doing the round for a seat in Tamil Nadu.

MoS IT, Rajeev Chandrashekhar hails from neighbouring Karnataka.

Annamalai 

Among ex-cops Anand Mishra, a police officer from Assam cadre, may contest election in Bihar either from Buxur or Arrah. At present Ashwaini Kumar Choubey, a Brahmin leader and Minister, is representing Buxur seat. 

Even Arrah seat is being represented by Union Power Minister R K Singh, also a former IAS and ex-Home Secretary. 

From West Bengal, the BJP may field former cop Bharati Ghosh. She had contested from Debra assembly segment in 2021 but lost. In 2019 Lok Sabha election also she lost to Trinamool nominee and popular actor Deepak Adhikari (Dev). 

From Madhya Pradesh, new grapevine is the party may field Shivraj Singh Chouhan and also Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Guna has been Scindia's 'karma bhoomi' earlier and Shivraj was an MP from Vidisha before 2005 when he came to the state as the Chief Minister. 

Of course in 2019, Scindia then a Congress nominee had lost the seat to Krishna Pal Yadav of BJP. This seat has been his family stronghold and was represented by his late father Madhavrao Scindia and also his grandmom Vijay Raje Scindia. 

Shivraj had represented BJP stronghold Vidisha for multiple times including 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004. 

In West Bengal, the saffron party may repeat most of its sitting MPs. It had won 18 seats in 2019 but amonst them Asansol lawmaker Babul Supriyo has changed flanks and joined Trinamool. At present the seat is represented by TMC MP and popular Hindi film actor Shatrughan Sinha.

From Uttar Pradesh, in order to achieve its much ambitious target of win in about 400 parliamentary seats, the saffron party has set a target of winning all 80 seats. In 2019, BJP could win all seats in Modi's bastion Gujarat.  

In 2014, riding on Modi's image and slogan such as 'Achchey Din Ane Waley Hain', the Lotus party swept all 25 seats in Rajasthan and all 26 seats from Gujarat. 

In Uttar Pradesh, BJP and its ally won 73 (71 plus 2) in 2014. But in 2019, BJP's tally had come down. This time the saffron outfit is ambitous to win all seats. It is certainly a tough order as Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav has a strong base in the state and so does the Mayawati-led BSP, which could win 10 seats in 2019 and had put up a better show than Samajwadi Party. 

The Lotus party could field celebrities and new faces in those seats which were won either by SP or BSP.  

Hence, one name doing the round is former cop Asim Arun. He is a sitting member of the Assembly from Kannauj Sadar since March 2022 and is Minister of State (Independent Charge) Social welfare in the Yogi Adityanath ministry.

During the COVID-19 lockdown in March–April 2020, UP 112 swiftly modified its operations to become the primary agency responsible for receiving requests for humanitarian aid and providing the same through its Police Response Vehicles and Police Station's vehicles. During this operation, Arun was the Chief of UP 112. 

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