Start, end of innings: Shah in fray from Advani’s citadel

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 22

There were no dramatic surprises in BJP’s much-awaited first list of 185 candidates for the coming Lok Sabha elections yesterday. Some sitting MPs were dropped, but a large number was repeated.

The party refrained from any big culling to ensure those “witness to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s excellent work in Parliament” are able to spread the message in the public. It also meant fewer rebels to deal with.

The biggest surprise, however, was party chief Amit Shah making his Lok Sabha debut from Gandhinagar, replacing a leader who was once the BJP’s PM candidate — veteran LK Advani — marking the end of the political career of the 91-year-old sitting MP from the constituency.

Expected to remain in the “margdarshak mandal” for the rest of his life, it is unlikely that Advani will be fielded from elsewhere. If that happens, it will be a bigger surprise. He may be sent to the Rajya Sabha, but for now it seems curtains for him.

Two other veterans — former chief ministers of Uttarakhand BC Khanduri and Bhagat Singh Koshiyari — met the same fate.

BJP leaders say Shah’s candidature will signal his intent to lead from the front and energise cadres, especially in Gujarat where the party is facing a resurgent Congress. They also claim there could not be a better way out for Advani, being replaced by someone like BJP chief Shah, who knows the constituency inside out.

Advani has been representing Gandhinagar since 1998. Incidentally, Shah was his poll manager in the initial elections.

For someone who has been attending Parliament sessions religiously, Advani may easily be counted among the best parliamentarians.

It is surprising though that Shah, who, earlier leaders claimed, was going to remain the backroom strategist will be there battling the dust and grime of the polls. Many see a bigger design behind the decison, that he may be a part of the government in case Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns to power.

While being a Rajya Sabha member he may easily have been a minister even in the current tenure, contesting Lok Sabha gives an all together different aura to a leader, say observers. Some see it as a reflection of his future role in the party — a possibly successor to Modi, who is 68 years old now. Much younger in age, Shah is only 54.

Of the 185 candidates, 29 are from UP, 16 from Maharashtra, eight from Assam, two from Arunachal Pradesh, five from Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir each, 21 from Karnataka, 13 from Kerala, 10 from Odisha, 16 from Rajasthan, five from Tamil Nadu, 10 from Telangana, five from Uttarakhand, 28 from West Bengal and two from Andhra Pradesh and one from Daman and Diu.

PM from Varanasi again, 25 MPs dropped 

• PM Narendra Modi to contest from Varanasi, like in 2014 (when he also contested from Vadodra)
• Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), Nitin Gadkari (Nagpur) retained
• 25 MPs dropped, including six in UP
• Smriti Irani to take on Congress president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi, Hema Malini to re-contest from Mathura
• VK Singh, Mahesh Sharma, Kiren Rijiju back from same seats

Shah behind Advani’s success: Javadekar

Amit Shah was the man behind Advani’s success in every election. He was the in-charge of the seat. Advani used to travel throughout the election campaign, but it was Shah who ensured his landslide victory every time. Prakash Javadekar, union minister