Tickets to turncoats, last-minute dropouts, Kejriwal arrest: Reading BJP’s moves

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP seem to be marching into the Lok Sabha elections much ahead of their political opponents, in terms of popularity, credibility and resources — as per plan. And, yet, a series of recent events have signalled how the party and government are pushing through the final pieces in the electoral chessboard, some with speed, some with suddenness.

* On Sunday, the BJP released its fifth list, which included three leaders who had joined the party just hours earlier – Naveen Jindal, industrialist and former Congress MP; Ranjit Singh Chautala, 78, the son of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal (both from Haryana); and V Varaprasad Rao, a YSRCP MLA and former MP (from Andhra Pradesh). In the process, the BJP junked names of party leaders suggested by state units for the seats, after elaborate surveys and feedback.

* On March 21, no sooner had the Lok Sabha election process began than Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, one of the most prominent Opposition faces, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate. The probe into the Delhi excise policy case, in which Kejriwal was held, has been on for long. While the AAP chief had skipped multiple summons, the timing of the arrest raised eyebrows. Clearly, the BJP’s call, despite the Opposition’s united front on the issue, is that there wouldn’t be much of a political blowback.

* The Income Tax Department acted in a pending case against the Congress and froze a large number of the party’s bank accounts last month. The Congress held a press conference last week that its campaign would be hard hit and this was the BJP’s strategy to tilt elections in its favour.

The press meet coincided with the State Bank of India sharing the full data on electoral bonds