CHANDIGARH: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) will release its list of all the 90 candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in Haryana on September 29. With the RSS playing a key role for the selection of candidates, there are rumours that 16 of the sitting MLAs may not be given tickets this time.
Also, there is a tug-of-war going on between the old party leaders and the new leaders who had joined the party over tickets.
Sources said that the ticket aspirants are leaving no stone unturned to use their RSS connections in order to get the party tickets. The Sangh has demanded around 15 tickets from the party for these assembly polls. It has reportedly given the prospective candidates list including one name of woman aspirant to the Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
The assembly seats of Faridabad, Hisar, Dadri, Patudi, Puthla, Narayangarh, Nelokheri, Sohana, Barwala besides a few others have been demanded by the sangh. In 2014 elections, RSS had demanded twenty tickets but only six of its candidates were given tickets. It is expected that this time around ten tickets might be given to candidates suggested by RSS.
Already all the state leaders of the party including CM Khattar and state chief Subash Barala are campaigning in Delhi and meeting the national party president Amit Shah and working president JP Nadda to finalise the list and it is learnt that the names of candidates have been finalized on almost all the seats. Now on September 28 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns back he will put his final stamp. Then on September 29, it is expected that the party will release the final list. Now a single list will be released, first the party was contemplating to release three lists.
It is learnt that as there are many ticket aspirants, it might lead to a tussle between the old party workers who have served the party in difficult times and the new entrants in the BJP. The old guard is opposing the party tickets to the new leaders hoping for a reward. But the entry of the leaders including sitting MLAs and former legislators from other parties might upset their plans.
The saffron party’s mandal level office bearers and workers in Rewari have asked the party high command not to give the ticket to sitting MLA from Bawal and state Public Health Engineering Minister Banwari Lal as they accused him of ignoring party workers for last five years.