With 16 days left for the Kolkata civic body elections, the BJP has not yet projected a candidate for the mayor. December 1 was the last day to submit nomination papers for the polls, while the BJP had announced its list of candidates on November 29. From that day on till December 2, state BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya has repeatedly been asked if anyone is running for mayor in the Kolkata civic polls.
Bhattacharya said, “This is our strategy. Even in the assembly election, we did not contest by projecting anyone as a chief ministerial candidate.”
Arjun Singh, one of the BJP leaders who is incharge of the polls, said, “The party manifesto of the Kolkata civic polls will be launched on December 8. Whether or not someone will be nominated as potential mayor will be known then. No decision has been made yet.”
A section of the state BJP, however, said there was low interest among workers to be a candidate in the Kolkata municipal elections after the party lost some seats in the assembly election as well as the bypoll.
In such a situation, it might not be realistic to go public with a potential mayoral face. According to other sections of the party, however, results would have been better if a potential chief minister had contested the assembly polls as well. That could then pave the way for a potential mayoral face in the municipal elections.
