NEW DELHI: With just one day left to file nominations for Delhi municipal elections, chaos reigns in Congress and BJP party offices amidst allegations of nepotism and auctioning of tickets. Neither party has been able to finalise their candidate lists. BJP workers staged a protest outside the residence of Venkaiah Naidu—in charge of choosing candidates—on Friday night and Saturday morning, alleging tickets were being sold and grassroot workers ignored. They also accused the leadership of giving importance to relatives of leaders in ticket distribution.
BJP sources say a war of words broke out between BJP leaders at Naidu’s residence on Friday, when one disgruntled MLA stood up and alleged some leaders had resorted to selling tickets. Many disgruntled elements within the party allege, money has prevailed over loyalty to the party, as one BJP leader’s brother-in-law and another’s son are alleged to have negotiated ticket sales, among others. BJP leaders Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Vijender Gupta, Vijay Goel, Vijay Jolly were present in the meeting, along with others state leaders.
On Saturday morning too, the BJP leadership couldn’t arrive at a consensus on candidates at a meeting held at Naidu’s home, reportedly reflecting the disagreement between Vijay Goel and Vijender Gupta. Sources say many BJP leaders are lobbying to get tickets for their family members at the cost of party workers. BJP MLA Jagdish Mukhi’s son-in-law Suresh Kumar, and former MLA Sushil Chaudhary’s daughter Vandana Bhagat, among others, are in the fray. Mayor Rajni Abbi, who is inclined to contest from Mukherjee Nagar, a seat which has no women’s reservation, is facing stiff resistance from BJP workers in the area.
On the other hand, ally Akali Dal has proved a tough nut to crack for the BJP. V K Malhotra, who has been assigned the responsibility of negotiating with the Akalis, has made it clear the BJP will not part with more than 10 seats, but the former is demanding at least 14. The Akali Dal had laid claim to the constituencies in Lajpat Nagar, Karol Bagh, Greater Kailash, Andrews Ganj, but the BJP bluntly clarified that under no circumstances would they part with these constituencies. The party has agreed to give Punjabi Bagh, Hari Nagar, Khyala, K D Nagar, GTB Nagar and Jhilmil to Akali Dal.
The scene is no different in Delhi Congress. A meeting of the apex committee, comprising Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Jai Prakash Agarwal, and AICC general secretary Chaudhary Birender Singh, held at Haryana Guest House on Friday, proved inconclusive. A meeting was also held at Dikshit’s residence late on Friday evening, and went on till 2 am on Saturday morning. Reportedly, there have been disagreements between Dikshit and Agarwal over candidates. Though consensus seems to have been reached on a majority of seats, disagreements persist between Congress leaders Krishna Tirath, Ramesh Kumar and Mahabal Mishra over a number of seats.
Among relatives of leaders trying to get nominations are MLA Balram Tanwar’s daughter-in-law Shilpi, Vinay, son of North Delhi MLA Mangatram Singhal, and councillor Tarun Kumar’s wife Prerna Singh. Incumbent councillors who are likely to be re-nominated are Farhad Suri, Jaikishan Sharma, Mukesh Goyal, Shalu Malik, Razia Sultana, Satwar Sharma, Chaudhary Ajit Singh, Darshana Jatav and Hemchandara Goyal.
There are reports of Mahila Congress members being unhappy over rumours that Congress leaders have been successful in obtaining tickets for their women relatives. Congress MP from Chandi ChowVk and HRD minister Kapil Sibal is reported to have suggested the apex committee to give tickets to only those family members of Congress leaders, who are actively involved in party work. He has stated that merely being a relative of a Congress leader should not make the person eligible for a ticket. Sources say Congress and BJP delayed announcing the candidates on Saturday to avoid rebellion in the ranks.
Nomination papers cannot be filed with the state election commission on Sunday and Monday is the last day for filing them. Hence, there is a likelihood of the list of candidates to be announced only in the wee hours of Monday morning.