With less than a month to go till the Capital’s residents cast their votes in the Lok Sabha election, the BJP is yet to announce its list of candidates for the seven Parliamentary constituencies in Delhi.
As of Friday, confusion reigned supreme within party circles about the candidates to be fielded, and apprehensions were high about whether the party would have enough time for a successful campaign in Delhi, said sources.
Insiders attributed the delay to party bigwigs being busy campaigning across the country, the proposed Aam Aadmi Party-Congress alliance, and what some alleged was a “lack of cohesion” in the BJP’s Delhi unit.
The Capital goes to the polls in the sixth phase of the general election on May 12.
‘List likely today’
“The list of candidates is likely to be out by April 13 [Saturday] evening. Candidates are likely to be changed in the New Delhi and East or North West seats,” said a party insider. Another source said that the list was likely to be released on April 14 so that nominations, after a day of deliberations, could be filed on the first day of the process starting April 16. The nomination process ends on April 23. “There is enough time to chalk-out candidate-specific campaigns... the list may be released early next week,” said the source.
Another party insider said, “Most of our senior leaders are busy campaigning and the delay is because of that... We are expecting the list within a day or two .” Another source claimed that the fresh survey for assessing candidates, which was ordered after the party’s senior leadership rejected a list composed “almost entirely” of existing office-bearers from Delhi, had triggered “lack of inner cohesion” in the State unit. “Many prominent leaders from the Delhi unit are either absenting themselves from significant public events or organising events of their own to stake claim to a ticket,” this source said.
A senior Delhi BJP leader said the on-again, off-again AAP-Congress alliance in the city was the most significant factor leading to the delay. “AAP has named all its candidates and the Congress has identified four out of seven, but the BJP will wait till the possibility of a tie-up, or lack of one, in Delhi becomes clearer,” the leader said.