Karnataka elections 2023: Why has BJP excluded Tejasvi Surya’s name from star campaigners’ list?

India’s ruling Bhartiya Janata Party Wednesday released its star-studded list of top campaigners for the upcoming assembly elections slated to be held on May 10. The list of 40 top BJP leaders included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief ministers from three states, including firebrand leader Yogi Adityanath of Uttar Pradesh. However, the speculation market turned red hot as soon as people found out two notable names were missing from the list- BJP MPs Tejasvi Surya and Pratap Simha.

Why are Surya and Simha kept away from campaigning?

Tejasvi Surya is BJP’s youth morcha president and is a big name in the state’s politics. Pratap Simha is also among the state’s top firebrand leaders. However, The Print quoted BJP’s sources as saying the party wants to keep the focus of campaigning on PM Narendra Modi. The source said, “well-thought-out strategy to keep the focus of the campaign on Prime Minister Modi”.

However, other BJP leaders said that adding Surya’s name to the list didn’t make any sense because he was already campaigning for the party across districts. NDTV quoted a BJP leader as saying, “He is a member of parliament from Karnataka and a popular leader for us.

He is anyways campaigning for the party and has been doing so for weeks now. But we also need people from the organisation who can be sent at short notice for meetings, everyone cannot be burdened with the responsibility of campaigning all the time.”

Some other leaders from BJP confirmed to NDTV that Surya will campaign for the party in at least 50 constituencies across the state.

Congress’s jab on Karnataka BJP

Congress was quick to react to the major development related to Karnataka BJP. Supriya Shrinate, a leader in the Congress, referred to Surya as "Nafrati Chintu" and claimed that nobody cared about him even in his own state. She continued, "He needs to get off his high horse.”

Some in opposition believe that Surya was taken off the list after the so-called ‘emergency exit gate fiasco'. The emergency door of a grounded airliner was unlocked by a passenger on December 10, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which alarmed other passengers and caused delays. Later, it was alleged that the passenger was none other than Tejasvi Surya.

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