BJP announces 4 Delhi candidates, retains sitting MPs

NEW DELHI: Even as uncertainty loomed whether Congress will ally with AAP or contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Delhi on its own, BJP on Sunday announced the names of its candidates on four of the seven seats, retaining the sitting MPs.
The BJP names announced include Union minister Harsh Vardhan from Chandni Chowk, Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi, former chief minister Sahib Singh Verma's son Pravesh from West Delhi and Gujjar leader Ramesh Bidhuri from South Delhi parliamentary constituency.Sources added that there was a prolonged discussion on the names of probables on the remaining three seats of New Delhi, East and North West Delhi. The sitting MPs on these three seats have got a relatively poor feedback in the internal surveys of the party.
The announcement of names also ended the speculation that the saffron might change a majority of its sitting MPs if the two rival parties, Congress and AAP, decided to join hands and give a joint fight to BJP. While AAP has already announced its candidates for all seven seats, Congress did not release the list of its candidates till Sunday evening.
The last date of filing nomination in Delhi is April 23 while the nominations can be withdrawn till April 26.
BJP had earlier decided to announce its candidates in advance to give them enough time to campaign but its process got delayed after Congress and AAP went into parleys over seat-sharing.
‘Congress and AAP in last-ditch tie-up effort’
Sources said the BJP leadership was keeping an eye on developments and deferred the announcement of its candidates to wait for the outcome of the talks between AAP and Congress.
“This gave us an opportunity to get more feedback on the performance and accessibility report of our sitting MPs as well as other names who were in the fray,” said a BJP member.
Though Congress has also finalised the names of the seven candidates, sources say last-ditch efforts are being made by top leaders of the two parties to stitch an alliance in Delhi. While Congress had proposed a 4:3 seat-sharing formula with AAP contesting on four seats, the Kejriwal-led party wanted to include 10 seats of Haryana and one in Chandigarh in the arrangement too. Following the Congress’ clear no on any truck with the party outside Delhi, sources said the AAP may finally agree to the initial proposal and filed its candidates on three seats. Interestingly, AAP has already announced its seven candidates who would be filing their nominations on Monday.
A senior Congress functionary said the party was delaying the list as it did not want its candidates to face embarrassment if the alliance finally happens. “It will not be difficult for AAP candidates to withdraw their nominations from seats that come in our kitty if the alliance finally works out. It’ll be difficult for our leaders who are senior politicians,” said a Congress member.