The BJP is keen to field two women candidates from the national capital in Lok Sabha elections next year now that the women’s reservation bill has been passed in both Houses of Parliament, sources told News18 on Friday. Currently, the BJP’s lone woman MP from Delhi, which has seven seats in the Lok Sabha, is Meenakshi Lekhi.
In the Delhi municipal elections last year, BJP had fielded a whopping number of 137 women candidates. While observers had construed it to be a counter for the 140 women fielded by the Aam Aadmi Party, insiders say the top leadership of the saffron party was warming up for the watershed moment of women’s reservation in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.
“The work has started for Lok Sabha elections already as far as Delhi is concerned. The sense we have got so far is that the party leadership is keen to field two women candidates from the national capital. But everything will depend on the ‘winnability’ factor,” said a BJP functionary on condition of anonymity.
“At this stage, we are shortlisting active party workers from Delhi who have a significant following. It is still very early stages though,” he added.
All seven MPs from Delhi are from the BJP. While Lekhi, who represents New Delhi constituency, is the sole woman MP from Delhi, other MPs from the national capital are Harsh Vardhan from Chandni Chowk seat, actor-politician Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi, cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir from East Delhi, singer-turned-politician Hans Raj Hans from North West Delhi, Jat leader Parves Verma from West Delhi and Gujjar leader Ramesh Bidhuri South Delhi.
Does the proposed plan of fielding two women from Delhi mean one of the male MPs will have to give up their seat?
“As I told you, it’s still early stages. As you know, many non-politicians are also given a chance by the BJP from Delhi. So it does not necessarily have to be from Delhi BJP. But yes, logic says, if you need to accommodate another woman MP, you will have to replace it with one of the six,” the BJP functionary said.
Harsh Vardhan had been the Health Minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet right until the peak of Covid-19 when he resigned ahead of a crucial cabinet reshuffle.
Another weak link is Ramesh Bidhuri whose consistent controversies have been embarrassing the BJP, including the latest one where he made objectionable remarks against BSP MP Danish Ali in the Lok Sabha. However, his Gujjar background and crowd management ability have kept him safe so far, say sources.
Meanwhile, Hans Raj Hans has also not been very active in his constituency, a complaint that has reportedly reached the ears of the BJP leadership.
Following the passage of the women’s reservation bill, the Mahila Morcha leaders of the Delhi unit along with other workers had gathered near the Rail Bhawan and 15 venues in Parliament’s vicinity to express gratitude to the Narendra Modi government for fulfilling the long-pending demand of India’s women. Their national counterparts organized a grand welcome for the Prime Minister at BJP headquarters.
But the saffron party knows that given that its implementation will take time, the BJP will have to walk the talk by voluntarily increasing the number of women candidates across all states come 2024 and Delhi isn’t any different.
The 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 2023, provides reservation of 33% seats for women in the lower house of Parliament and all State Legislative Assemblies.
In 2019, 12.61% of BJP candidates were women, which was a sharp jump from 2014’s 8.88%. This time around, the BJP wishes to increase it further while keeping ‘winnability’ as the main criterion.
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