NEW DELHI: The BJP’s central election committee met on Thursday to finalise the party’s candidates for the Delhi Assembly election but the list was not announced till late evening. Its top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president Amit Shah and Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari besides working president JP Nadda among others, held consultation at the BJP headquarters here over the names of probables for the February 8 elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari was also part of the meeting.
Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday had named all its candidates. The BJP had won only three assembly seats in the previous assembly elections, while the AAP had won 67. The elections will have triangular contest with the Congress being the third major player as political watchers believe that the BJP and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP are likely to be the main rivals in most of the seats.
While Kejriwal is relying on populist schemes, like free electricity and water besides free ride for women in the government-run buses, besides his work to boost education and health infrastructure, the BJP is eying to oust him from power on the Modi government’s decision to grant ownership rights to people living in unauthorised colonies and planks like the CAA.
The BJP has also accused the AAP government of allegedly failing to fulfil most of its promises and has tried to corner it over violence during anti- CAA protests in the city. The BJP is out of power in Delhi since 1998, when the Sushma Swaraj government lost to the Congress.
For more than 21 years, the BJP has been trying to get back to power and came close enough to form government in 2013 but it was not enough to cross the majority in the 70-member House.
(Inputs from Agencies)