BJP Haryana state unit to release list of candidates on Navratri

The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) in Haryana is waiting for the period of Chaitra Navratri, which starts from April 6, to announce the names of its candidates for the upcoming Lok sabha elections in the state, said party leaders.

A slew of meetings among senior party leaders, including members of the screening committee, were held in Rohtak on Thursday to deliberate on the names of the candidates.

The screening committee of the party consists of Kalraj Misra as the in-charge of BJP Haryana, national general secretary Anil Jain, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, state party chief Subash Barala,Vishwas Sarang, state education minister Rambilas Sharma, OP Dhankhar, Captain Abhimanyu and Anil Vij.

Earlier in the day, a meeting of Lok Sabha Prabaharis, Sanyojaks and Sah Sanyojaks of each constituency was held, in which state in-charge Kalraj Mishra, national general secretary Dr Anil Jain, state party chief Subash Barala, Suresh Bhatt and Vishwas Sarang were present.

Later, a meeting of all the members of Parliament(MP), ministers of the state cabinet and those in the union cabinet was also held to discuss the Lok Sabha polls and the names of the probable candidates.

“A short survey is also underway to finalise the names of candidates within next two to three days. Their candidature will be announced during Navratri, which also marks the start of the Hindu new year as per the solar calendar,” said a senior BJP leader in Gurugram.

When asked about the probable candidates for the 10 seats in Haryana and what strategy the BJP was adopting to choose them, Sandeep Joshi, state general secretary, said the winning potential of the candidates, their adherence to the ideology of the party and loyalty are the factors upon which the final selection will rest. “The names of the candidates will be declared in the next couple of days,” he said.

Party insiders said that names of candidates are close to being finalised, with Rao Inderjeet Singh and Krishanpal Gujjar likely to be repeated in Gurgaon and Faridabad respectively.

The names of Dharambir Singh, a sitting MP, and Abhay Singh Yadav are under consideration for Bhiwani.

For Rohtak, the BJP could give the ticket to either Arvind Sharma or Manish Grover. The name of OP Dhankhar is also doing the rounds for the same seat. In Sonipat, Bijender Singh, who is the son of union minister Birender Singh, is the strongest contender though recent joinee Deepa Malik, Krishna Gehlaut and sitting MP Ramesh Kaushik are also in the fray.

In Karnal, Sanjay Bhatia is the contender for the party ticket while in Ambala the candidature is likely to be given to Rattan Lal Kataria or his wife Banto Kataria.

In Sirsa, Sunita Duggal and Krishan Bedi are strong contenders while in Hissar, Captain Abhimanyu, who is the state finance minister, and Ashok Goyal are vying for party ticket. In Hissar, state party chief Subash Barala could also emerge as a surprise candidate, party insiders said.

GL Sharma, BJP leader from Gurugram, said that the party is geared to ensure the victory of its candidates from all the 10 seats in Haryana.

“We will face fight in only two to three seats in Haryana. The morale of the workers and cadres is high and they are working hard to ensure BJP’s victory in the elections.” he said.

First Published: Apr 05, 2019 04:46 IST