Poll tickets certain for at least 52 sitting MLAs
Poll tickets are more or less certain for 52 of Delhi?s 70 sitting MLAs. They belong to both BJP and Congress, and their names are believed to have been cleared.
Election tickets are more or less certain for 52 of Delhi’s 70 sitting MLAs. They belong to both the BJP and Congress, and their names are believed to have been cleared by their respective parties.
The BJP is likely to announce a list of 35-40 candidates in a couple of days. It will include 12 sitting legislators. The Delhi BJP’s election committee is expected to meet on Wednesday morning to give final touches to the list. The committee members will then meet the party’s central election committee on Wednesday night to have the list approved.
Some of the sitting legislators whose names are sure to be announced are Leader of the Opposition Jagdish Mukhi, former Health Minister Harshvardhan, former Industries Minister Harsharan Singh Balli, senior party MLA Ram Bhaj, Brahm Singh Tanwar and Nand Kishore Garg.
The BJP has 14 legislators. According to party sources, a decision is yet to be reached for the Badli and Shalimar Bagh seats. Jai Bhagwan Aggarwal and Ravinder Bansal are legislators from these seats respectively.
The Congress is also expected to declare its first list before the end of this week. Party sources say names of all Delhi ministers and those holding important posts in the government and the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee will figure in the list.
According to sources, though the screening committee, in its meetings over the last two days, has almost reached a consensus on retaining tickets of about 40 sitting MLAs, their names may be declared later to stem any possible dissidence.
However, there are differences within the party over candidates for about 25 seats, including the 14 BJP-held ones. In some of the seats like Yamuna Vihar and Badli, the party has shortlisted four to five names. The party had received over 30 applicants for tickets from these seats.
Sons in the fray
The Delhi Congress has reportedly decided to give tickets to the sons of two Delhi Congress leaders — first CM of Delhi Brahm Prakash, and HKL Bhagat. Brahm Prakash’s son, Suresh Chaudhary, is expected to contest from an outer Delhi seat. The seats under consideration are Badli, Palam and Najafgarh. Bhagat’s son Deepak is expected to contest from east Delhi.