Ahmedabad, 6 May, 2014

Amritsar and Amethi

Several BJP leaders in Gujarat will keep eye on results of two Lok Sabha seats outside Gujarat. These two seats are Amritsar and Amethi. If BJP candidates Arun Jaitley and Smriti Irani win Lok Sabha elections in Amritsar and Amethi respectively, two Rajya Sabha seats will be vacant in Gujarat as both Jaitley and Smriti are elected to Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. Those BJP leaders who have performed well during Lok Sabha elections in Gujarat obviously hope to get Rajya Sabha membership as reward. Ultimate decision maker in that case will be of course Narendra Modi. If he comes to power, Narendra Modi would like to build his team in Delhi, and if he wants someone from organization or from outside to become his minister, he may bring him/her through vacant Rajya Sabha seats.

Uttar Pradesh Amit Shah

BJP cadres in Gujarat will closely watch the results of Uttar Pradesh elections. If results are in favor of BJP beyond expectations, Amit Shah will emerge as the most powerful politician from Gujarat after Narendra Modi. If Uttar Pradesh throws magical results, the credit for that will mainly go to Narendra Modi and BJP, but Amit Shah will also get his share of credit. Shah is presently MLA from Ahmedabad’s Naranpura assembly seat. He is General Secretary of BJP nationally. He was minister of state for Home, Law and Justice in Narendra Modi’s ministry a few years back.

Varanasi and Vadodara

There is no doubt about Narendra Modi’s victory on Varanasi seat in Uttar Pradesh. All efforts of his supporters and BJP are in direction of ensuring maximum margin of votes. Modi is also going to win in Vadodara. Post-elections, Modi is likely to resign from Vadodara Lok Sabha seat. In that case, there are several contenders to claim candidature from Vadodara seat. Sitting MP Balu Shukla is one of them, but if Modi is in mood of building his team in Delhi, he may prefer someone else too to contest from Vadodara which is one of the safest seats for BJP.