He replaced Murli Manohar Joshi in Kanpur, now finds himself out in cold

HOURS after sitting BJP Kanpur MP Satyadev Pachauri had written to party national president J P Nadda saying he does not wish to contest the coming Lok Sabha elections, the party named Ramesh Awasthi, a former senior journalist, as its candidate from the seat.

While Pachauri did not give any reason in the letter, which he also posted on social media, sources in the party said the BJP leadership had made up its mind to deny him the ticket citing his age — at 76, he is past the BJP’s unofficial age limit. There was reportedly also resentment among local leaders against him.

A two-term MLA from Govind Nagar seat in Kanpur and a Brahmin leader, Pachauri was a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government when the BJP gave him the ticket from Kanpur in 2019, replacing its veteran leader Murli Manohar Joshi.

Informed by the party that he would not be getting a ticket, Joshi was eased out of active politics into what the BJP has dubbed its ‘Margdarshak Mandal’. In that sense, Pachauri’s exit follows Joshi’s.

A BJP leader in Kanpur said: “Age is just one factor behind the move to deny ticket to Pachauri. Some of the party’s elected representatives in Kanpur had opposed his name as a candidate. Pachauri had realised this and sought a ticket for his daughter, but the BJP turned him down.”

Incidentally, in May 2021, during the Covid pandemic, Pachauri had embarrassed the party by writing to UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya saying lives had been lost for want of timely treatment.

One of the issues he raised in Parliament was the need for a Uniform Civil Code. Addressing the Law Minister, Pachauri had said this would benefit the country, as it would unite it and promote “nationalist spirit”.

Pachauri has old RSS links, and is known