NEW DELHI: The week began on a hectic note for the Delhi unit of the BJP on Monday, with the party announcing its last list of candidates for the MCD elections and playing down allegations of friction within its ranks, even as several of its leaders switched to AAP.
The Delhi BJP announced its last list, comprising 18 candidates, on the last day of the nomination for the upcoming MCD elections. State party president Adesh Gupta on Monday night released the names of the remaining candidates on Twitter and congratulated the candidates. He further stated, “The efforts of the godlike workers of the BJP family who have not been able to make it to the list this time will never fail, the lotus will bloom with your efforts.”
Meanwhile, AAP attacked BJP, saying the party is struggling with internal strife. “One of the strongest indications of a wave in favour of AAP is the recent resignation spree in the BJP, as all its district presidents have submitted their resignations to Adesh Gupta,” an AAP leader said.
However, the BJP refuted this claim, with party spokesperson Shekhar Awasthi saying, “None of the district presidents tendered his resignation. We have given the chance to some of them to contest in the upcoming polls, therefore we appointed ad-hoc presidents. But later we removed the latter, realising that in absence of the district president, this profile will automatically move to the vice president.”
Asked about divisions within the party, he said, “There is no internal strife in the party. During the ticket allotment, there was dissatisfaction among the leaders, which was resolved with a healthy discussion.”
Meanwhile, several BJP leaders switched to AAP on Monday, including former ward vice-president Pooja Arora and former Mahila Morcha vice presidents Chitra Lamba and Bhavna Jain.