Winnability primary factor in selecting candidates: Pujari

Expressbuzz.com, 22nd March, 2009

Bijoy Pradhan
First Published : 22 Mar 2009 08:39:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 22 Mar 2009 11:47:46 AM IST

BHUBANESWAR: If the sitting BJP MLAs are living under the comfort that they will be renominated just because the alliance with BJD has been broken, they are grossly mistaken.
‘‘Every one is under scanner. One should not take it for granted that he or she had won the last election and it will merit renomination this time,’’ said BJP State president Suresh Pujari.
Of the several parameters set by the BJP for selection of candidates, winnability is the primary factor. Second comes image of the candidate post break up of the alliance with the BJD, Pujari said.
Public image of candidates has become important for the Saffron party as the clean image of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his crusade against corruption will be the main poll plank of the BJD.
A powerful section in the BJP is strongly opposed to renomination of several MLAs, including a couple of ministers in the Naveen Patnaik Government.
The group has already taken up the issue with the central leadership of the party and is determined to block their entry during approval of the list of candidates by the BJP central election committee.
Performance of individual MLAs will also be taken into consideration during finalisation of candidates, a party insider said.
The state election committee of the BJP is meeting tomorrow to finalise candidates for 70 Assembly and 10 Lok Sabha seats going to poll in the first phase on April 16.
Although the party has already announced names of candidates for seven parliamentary seats, only four of them are going to poll in the first phase. Candidates have been cleared for Balangir, Kalahandi, Sundargarh and Nabarangpur which will go to polls in the first phase. While sitting MPs Sangeeta Singhdeo, BK Deo and Jual Oram are renominated for Balangir, Kalahandi and Sundargarh seats, Parsuram Majhi, who lost the last election, has been announced for Nabarangpur.
Candidates for the remaining sixseats of Aska, Baragarh, Berhampur, Kandhamal, Koraput and Sambalpur, which will go to polls in the first phase, will be finalised.
While both the BJD and BJP are facing difficulties in selecting candidates after the break up of the alliance, the BJP president, however, claimed that there is no dearth of candidates as his party has received more that thousand applications.
He further said the list of probable candidates for all the parliamentary and Assembly seats have been prepared.
However, his party will announce the names of candidates after other political parties announce their candidates.