No change in list of candidates now: Khattar in Karnal
Khattar was in Karnal, his parliamentary constituency, to meet party’s candidate and his former media co-ordinator Jagmohan Anand and chair a meeting at the district BJP office
Union minister and former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said that there is no chance of changing the tickets in Haryana now, putting an end to the rumbling in the state BJP unit over the ticket distribution.
Khattar was in Karnal, his parliamentary constituency, to meet party’s candidate and his former media co-ordinator Jagmohan Anand and chair a meeting at the district BJP office.
Since September 5, when the saffron party announced nominees on 67 of 90 seats, several senior leaders, including a cabinet minister, some sitting MLAs and some former legislators have expressed their dissatisfaction openly.
Many of them have either decided to contest as Independents or are in a process with the party making continuous efforts to pacify them.
Speaking to media here, the ex-CM, acknowledged the tussle among the leaders for ticket, but denied the possibility of change in the list now.
“In this democracy, several workers aspire to fight elections and they could even win. But ultimately, the parliamentary board has to decide while keeping in view all the factors in play. We are a disciplined party and as a family, every leader is taken along. We have reached out to most of them and will speak to rest of them. I believe, the decision by the party will be accepted by them,” he added.
He said that in BJP there is “no culture” of changing the candidates, while adding that the next meeting of the board is likely to take place on Monday, after which the second list of candidates will be released.
Khattar, who ruled the state for over nine years and is perceived to have played a major role in candidate selection, denied any involvement on deciding the list.
“In our party, every office bearer and leader keep forward their advice, but the final decision is taken by the parliamentary board,” he added.
The Karnal MP said that after the nominations, the state will witness a slew of rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP national president JP Nadda, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and chief ministers of neighbouring states like Yogi Adityanath, Bhajan Lal Sharma and others.
Khattar, Saini meets ex-mayor
Khattar also reached the residence of former two-time mayor Renu Bala Gupta, who is upset over the selection of Anand as candidate and labelled it “out of merit”.
Khattar said that the former mayor and her husband Brij Gupta have called a meeting of their supporters on Tuesday and he expect they will decide to “work with the party” and ensure the victory of BJP.
On Saturday evening, chief minister Nayab Singh Saini also met Gupta.
Speaking to media, Saini, said that being an MLA from the seat, he was here to have tea with his sister.
The former mayor had called a large gathering of supporters on Sunday to announce their next decision but after meeting Saini she made the announcement for postponing the decision till Tuesday.
Her husband Brij said that in the meeting they asked Saini to reconsider the decision and even asked him to re-contest from Karnal, adding that either Saini or his OSD Sanjay Bathla or former district president Ashok Sukhija should content from Karnal, where their victory will be ensured by him.
Ex-district president also unhappy
Former district president Ashok Sukhija also voiced his dissatisfaction for not getting ticket from Karnal.
Sukhija, one of the senior-most party leaders, raised questions on overall ticket distribution in the state.
He has called a meeting of his supporters on Monday and has left the decision open whether to contest the election or not.
