CHANDIGARH: While luck may elude a few Nayab Singh Saini cabinet ministers who might be denied party tickets for the upcoming Haryana assembly elections, a handful of bigwigs are all set to fight it out.
Chief Minister Saini is likely to contest from one of the three constituencies --Ladwa, Narangarh or Karnal -- the party has zeroed down on.
The two-day brainstorming session of the BJP’s state election committee ended onFriday. The party has shortlisted the probable candidates for the elections to be held on October 1.
Sources in the party familiar with the developments claimed that a list of shortlisted probable candidates is almost ready and is likely to be placed before the party high command around August 24-25 for a final decision.
Though the party has included the MLAs in the shortlisted list, reportedly only,around ten of them have been assured party tickets. The party will be looking for 10-15 fresh faces.
Barring a few constituencies from where the bigwigs are expected to contest, the party has shortlisted two to three probable candidates per constituency. It has clarified that fresh faces would be fielded from a number of seats in order to fight the anti-incumbency of the BJP government of the last ten years, said the sources.
Also, in all likelihood, the BJP might not follow the norm of “one family, one ticket” and could give tickets to the kin of leaders. A few senior party leaders had approached the party high command to dilute this policy as a one-time exception in these polls.
Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh is eyeing tickets for his daughter Aarti Rao and has already announced her decision to contest these elections with or without a party ticket, while MP Naveen Jindal is keen on ticket for his mother Savitri Jindal a former minister. Another Union Minister, Krishan Pal Gujjar and MP Dharambir Singh want tickets for their children. Rajya Sabha nominee Kiran Choudhry, too is keen on a ticket for her daughter Shruti who is a former, said the sources.
The meeting precedes the annual RSS coordination summit, scheduled from August 31 to September 2 in Kerala.
Eyeing the ticket
Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh is eyeing tickets for his daughter Aarti Rao, while MP Naveen Jindal is keen on ticket for his mother Savitri Jindal a former minister. Another Union Minister, Krishan Pal Gujjar and MP Dharambir Singh want tickets for their children. Rajya Sabha nominee Kiran Choudhry, too is keen on a ticket for her daughter Shruti who is a former legislature.