The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) list of potential candidates for the upcoming Delhi elections may be accompanied by another important announcement – a change of guard in the state unit with an executive president from SC, ST or OBC communities, according to party sources.
While awaiting a final decision on the selection for the polls from its national leadership, sources said the BJP’s Delhi unit could be handed over to a “senior leader from an important community”. The winter session of Parliament is over.
Last week, BJP and opposition MPs faced off outside Parliament. BJP MPs accused Congress of “insulting” Ambedkar and chanted “country will not tolerate insult to Ambedkar”, Congress members protested Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s remarks about Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha.
A source in the party said, “There is a view that is slowly gaining ground within the party that a leader from the SC/ST/OBC community – who is likely to be a Delhi Lok Sabha MP – is appointed as the working president from (current state chief) Virendra (Sachdeva).) There is a possibility.”
“Apart from some senior leaders, the party activities related to the elections are already managed by our seven Delhi MPs. Several candidates have been discussed for possible transfer, including North West Delhi MP Yogendra Chandolia, West Delhi MP Kamaljit Sehrawat and former Rajya Sabha MP Dushyant Gautam,” the source added.
While Sehrawat belongs to the Jat community which demographically has a significant representation in the capital and is one of the oldest communities living in Delhi, Gautam, who is BJP national vice-president and former Rajya Sabha MP, belongs to SC. Community like Chandolia.
According to BJP sources, another reason for the continued delay in announcing candidates for the city’s 70 assembly constituencies was the “lack of options” in certain seats.
“There are many seats where we are on a strong footing based on the ongoing polls and the party’s vote in previous elections. But, either there is a mismatch between the party’s support and who it wants to give tickets to or the other way around,” said a senior party leader.
“Even though this has delayed the process, we also need to accommodate the leaders who have joined us from other parties between the Lok Sabha elections and now. Many such leaders continue to have a good grip on the respective seats they represented in the past and can be pitted against key incumbent AAP MLAs or ministers. ,” the leader also said.
According to sources, the BJP’s Central Election Committee, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is likely to meet this week for critical and final vetting before announcing the names of the candidates.
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