NEW DELHI: In the first list of 57 candidates for the Delhi assembly elections announced on Friday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has pinned hopes on mix of its tried and tested and new faces to challenge the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The party has given election tickets to 30 experienced leaders – sitting MLAs, councilors, former councilors and also those who had contested 2013 and 2015 elections-- for the February 8 polls for the 70-member House.
The BJP list is unlike that of the Aam Aadmi Party, which has fielded 24 new faces. Only nine young candidates who have never contested any elections before are in the fray.
The three sitting BJP MLAs --leader of opposition in Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta, OP Sharma, and Jagdish Pradhan-- have been repeated from the same seats—Rohini, Vishwas Nagar, and Mustafabad respectively.
Two defectors from AAP—Kapil Mishra and Anil Bajpai and also a former Congress MLA Surender Pal Singh Bittu have managed to get party tickets.
Three had crossed over to the saffron outfit last year.
Mishra will be contesting from Modal Town constituency while Bajpai has been nominated from Gandhi Nagar seat, which he had won as AAP candidate previously. Mishra was MLA from Karwal Nagar, from where the party has fielded its four-time MLA Mohan Singh Bisht.
Candidatures for remaining 13 seats including New Delhi constituency, being represented chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, were not announced as the names for the same are yet to be finalised, said senior party functionary in the know of the matter.
The constituencies for which candidature have not been announced also contain four seats—Kalkaji, Rajouri Garden, Hari Nagar, and Shahdara, which are traditionally left for its ally Shriomani Akali Dal (SAD).
The AAP has already announced names for all 70 seats and Congress may release the list of its nominees over the weekend.
While reading out constituency-wise names of contestants at a press conference, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari said names for remaining seats would be announced ‘soon’. Union minister and incharge of local unit for the upcoming polls Prakash Javadekar was also present at the event.
“The central election committee meeting headed by party president Amit Shah has given approval for 57 seats including 11 reserved constituencies. Four tickets have been given to women candidates. The list has been prepared with a belief and confidence to win Delhi,” he said.
No Muslim has been given ticket this time, even from Matia Mahal, which has significance minority population. Former north Delhi mayor and Delhi BJP’s general secretary Ravinder Gupta has been given ticket from the seat. In last elections, the party had nominated Anjum Dehlavi, who was lone Muslim candidate of BJP in the national capital.