NEW DELHI: The announcement for names for all seven parliamentary seats in Delhi by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may take time as uncertainty over an alliance between Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the national capital continues.
A Delhi BJP functionary said if an alliance materialises, the Central leadership may repeat all its current members of parliament (MPs) in Delhi.“The election committee had already been submitted 21 names to the Central leadership to prepare a list of potential candidates but it may finalise their candidature after confirmation of the Congress-AAP alliance. All seven MPs may be given tickets if the Congress and AAP join hands,” he said.
Polling in Delhi will take place in sixth phase on May 12.“The Parliamentary Board is likely to discuss Delhi’s candidature on Tuesday,” he said.Meanwhile, the Central leadership of the BJP has taken exception to ‘mishandling’ cricketer Gautam Gambhir’s induction to the party. Gambhir had joined the party in the presence of Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday. The cricketer’s name did not figure in the list of 21 probable candidates sent to the parliamentary board.
During a discussion held by the election committee on Friday, a few members had also raised objections to priority being given to celebrities joining the party just before the Lok Sabha elections.“The Central leadership was particularly unhappy with off-the-record briefing over Gambhir’s joining. The state unit mishandled his joining. The senior leaders were unhappy since the media was told that the player’s name was not in the list,” said another leader.
He further said the central leadership had also expressed displeasure over the 21 names recommended as names of those on the election panel were also included.“The members on the election committee on the panel for selection included their names also, which has reportedly irked the central leadership. So it has asked for a fresh list of possible candidates,” said a state BJP leader, while speaking to this publication.