NEW DELHI: The BJP’s Delhi leadership was left red-faced on Thursday after its chief Manoj Tiwari posted a list of party nominees for the post of mayor, deputy mayor and other office-bearers for three MCDs along with their caste on Twitter.
A senior Delhi BJP functionary conceded that the blunder was an ‘embarrassment’ to the party. “The list of candidates with their caste was indeed prepared. But that is only for internal circulation and party purposes. It is never made public,” said the leader.
In a tweet, former BJP councillor Jagdish Mamgain criticised Tiwari for mentioning the caste of the candidates. The Opposition latched on to this opportunity to launch an attack on the BJP. “It was a very well known fact that this year, the MCD posts are reserved for SC/ ST candidates. What does the BJP want to portray by highlighting the communities? Their desperate attempt to woo the Dalits is evident now,” Congress leader Mukesh Goyal told The Morning Standard.
“The BJP is trying to divide the people further by mentioning the communities of the nominees for the mayoral election. But, they won’t succeed as the people know that the MCD has not done any work, as is a very corrupt body,” said Kuldeep Kumar, Leader of Opposition, EDMC.
The BJP’s list includes two women and a Sikh from the Dalit community. Avtar Singh, who represents the Mallah community, was nominated for the mayor post for North MCD. Yogesh Kumar Verma was selected for the post of deputy mayor.
For South MCD, the BJP chose a woman candidate, Sunita Kangra, an SC candidate, while Raj Dutt Gehlot, a Jat, was nominated for the deputy mayor post. Another woman candidate Anju Kamalkant, an SC candidate, was nominated for East MCD mayor post, while Sanjay Goyal was chosen for the deputy mayor post.
Thursday was the last day for filing nomination for the post of mayor and deputy mayor and vacancies in the Standing Committees of the MCDs. While the election for South MCD will be held on April 26, North and East civic bodies will poll on April 29.
“No Dalit Sikh has ever become a mayor. It is a great opportunity to work as a mayor of the North MCD. I am humbled that the party gave chance to a Dalit Sikh party worker and considered me as the rightful successor,” Avtar told The Morning Standard. Although a complaint was registered last year against Singh for demanding money from builders, he denied report of any such incident.