List of BJP candidates for LS polls to be announced today
The much awaited list of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates for the seven Lok Sabha seats is expected to be announced on Thursday. BJP's Central Parliamentary Board is believed to have vetted the names of prospective candidates which may contain few surprises.
"The assessment exercise is at final stage and the list of names for Delhi is expected to be announced soon. "Party high command is reviewing the entire exercise as the first list sent by Delhi BJP unit missed the name of celebrities," a state BJP functionary said seeking anonymity.
Elections in Delhi are in the 6th phase i,e May 12. A Delhi BJP office bearer said that chances of AAP and Congress getting into seat arrangement, is still on as there has been no official word from both the parties. The declaration of BJP's candidates may take some more time as the party may wait for the final word on the AAP-Congress tie up, sources in Delhi BJP maintained.
On March 23, Delhi unit of BJP had sent names of candidates for seven Parliamentarians to the CPB in the presence of Delhi State Election in - charge and Union Minister Nirmala Sithraman.
As per the sources, mostly members of the committee were against giving the tickets to celebrities, hinting that former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir may not be the natural choice to replace sitting Lok Sabha member from the New Delhi Parliamentary seat.
BJP circles were agog after the formal entry of Gambhir into BJP's fold as he could be a formidable candidate to retain the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat in 2019 General Elections.
Party sources said that State Election Committee in which Delhi BJP party President Manoj Tiwari, has also recommended names including former South Delhi Corporation Mayor Kamaljeet Sherawat for West Delhi seat, currently held by Pravesh Verma the son of former Delhi Chief Minister late Sahib Singh Verma.
It would be interesting to mention here that Gambhir is not the only candidate who has thrown his hat into the ring fro, New Delhi constituency, names of sitting MP
The tweet, posted late night on March 20, triggered uproar on the social media, with the Twitterati slamming the Delhi Chief Minister for his post, prompting the ruling party to come out with a clarification saying it was not Swastik but the Nazi symbol that the AAP leader had tweeted. It is not only an objectionable tweet aimed at disrupting the communal harmony but also a violation of the model code of conduct.
However, on March 26, the central leadership of BJP turned down the proposed list of the prospective candidates sent by its Delhi unit and asked the Delhi BJP to send another list for all the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national Capital.
According to party insiders the names of celebrities were missing in the previous list of candidates. Following it, the party high command asked Delhi BJP to review and resend the names of probable candidates. Focusing towards the role of celebrities in Lok Sabha elections, party sources said that BJP need faces that can spread Modi’s leadership among the masses, particularly in the aftermath of Pulwama attack. Various names including the firebrand Sadhvi Ritambara from East Delhi are also doing rounds.
