Gurgaon civic polls: BJP releases list of 26 candidates

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released a list of 26 candidates, including 11 women, for the upcoming Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) elections scheduled for September 24.

Sources said that the rest of the candidates are likely to be announced on Tuesday.

The party has given a chance to several new faces the following the new demarcation of wards, by which the equations of former councillors were marred.

The party was expected to release the list on September 7 and 8 but it was delayed due to political and caste equations, sources said.

Local leaders, including MLAs and MP, were trying to fine tune the list of candidates, due to which the list could not be released till Monday night, sources said.

Bhupender Singh Chauhan, BJP district president, said the party is selecting candidates who have proved to be hard working and those with integrity.

He said that the party is aiming to repeat its victory in the Delhi and Faridabad municipal corporations in Gurgaon, by sweeping more than 32 seats. Elections will be held for 35 wards on September 24 and the results will be declared the same day.

Party leaders were prepared to release the list by 8.30 pm but delayed it by another hour as they were yet to reach a consensus on some ticket allocations.

The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) has already announced 17 candidates. The party is likely to announce remaining candidates on Tuesday.

Congress leadership is undecided over contesting the polls on party symbol. Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Tanwar had on August 31 announced that the party will contest polls on party symbol but this announcement was countered by the party high command the very next day.

The general secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC) and party’s Haryana in-charge, Kamal Nath, had shot off a letter declaring that the Congress candidates will not contest the MCG polls on the party symbol as it did not happen in the past.