NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may field around 30 sitting members of municipal corporations in the Assembly polls. Interestingly, the party had denied tickets to incumbent councillors in the 2017 municipal elections.
“The election committee of Delhi BJP has already held several rounds of meeting to shortlist names for 70 seats. The panel has finalised a name each for 25 seats and 2 to 3 names for another 10-15 seats. The candidature of 50 councillors was discussed initially, but it now appears that only 30 of them may get the go-ahead from the central leadership to contest the elections,” said a senior party leader, privy to the screening of probables.
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The committee has been holding marathon meetings over the last 48 hours to select candidates. The party had received thousands of applications from ticket aspirants. In its meeting on Saturday, the panel stroked off several names and compiled a list of 1,400 probables, which was further trimmed on Sunday. Around 450 applications were set aside for final consideration.
In the 2008 Assembly elections, the BJP had not given tickets to sitting councillors. However, changing tack in 2013, the party nominated six serving councillors, three of whom won. In 2015, it picked at least 18 sitting or former councillors to contest the polls. However, only one of them — Vijender Gupta from Rohini — succeeded. The party managed to bag just three seats that year. Gupta is the leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly.
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Before gathering at Union minister Prakash Javadekar’s residence on Sunday night, the committee convened a meeting at the residence of party president Amit Shah.
Javadekar is also the party’s in-charge for the assembly elections. “Two-three names were shortlisted for majority of the seats in a late-night meeting chaired by Shah. The names will be placed before the Central Election Committee to take a final call. The first list of candidates is likely to be released in the next two-three days,” said a BJP functionary.
Members of the group involved in short-listing applications said the party is also contemplating fielding all Delhi MPs, including Rajya Sabha member Vijay Goel, and barring East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir, in the Assembly polls.
MPs in fray will help party
Voices in BJP favouring the idea of nominating MPs are of the opinion that parliamentarians entering the fray would also help create a positive impact in 4-5 seats others than the ones where they are fielded, and make the party, which has been out of power in Delhi for 21 years, sail through.