BJP to field Vijay Goel from New Delhi, Chetan Chauhan from East Delhi

NEW DELHI: After weeks of intense lobbying and deliberations, the BJP came out with its list of Delhi candidates on Thursday with former minister Vijay Goel having managed to persuade the party to give him the New Delhi seat - at the cost of mayor Arti Mehra - while former cricketer Chetan Chauhan got the nod for East Delhi constituency.
Jagdish Mukhi pulled off a surprise, clinching the West Delhi nomination whereParvesh Verma, son of the late Sahib Singh Verma, had made a strong pitch.Goel has been in the eye of a controversy within the party with many - including the Leader of the Opposition in the assembly, V K Malhotra - reportedly opposing his candidature from New Delhi.
However, Goel refused to budge as he was apparently wary of contesting from Chandni Chowk where he has managed to rub party workers the wrong way. For the record, however, he insisted that he had contested from both Sadar and Chandni Chowk earlier and that a portion of Sadar was now part of the New Delhi constituency after delimitation.
Goel had met BJP leader L K Advani even as his supporters let it be known that he may quit the party if denied the New Delhi seat. Arti Mehra's bid had briefly queered the pitch for Goel.
A surprise omission is Parvesh Verma. Parvesh, who was a strong contender for the West Delhi seat, owing to his Jat support base, has had to make way for veteran Jagdish Mukhi. This comes in the wake of Mukhi's refusal to move to New Delhi, which had been proposed to accommodate Parvesh. Party insiders claim Mukhi's choice is because of the Punjabi lobby, especially since West Delhi is a strong Punjabi and Sikh stronghold.
However, this could cost the BJP dear as Parvesh's credentials as a Jat leader could have had an impact on not only West but also South and North-West Delhi. Said a senior party leader, ``If Parvesh is not accommodated, his Jat support could shift its alliance to the Congress.'' Indeed, the absence of a Jat candidate could weaken the BJP's prospects as the community, along with the Gujjars, is politically assertive.
The party has rewarded its corporators after denying them tickets for theassembly elections. Both Vijender Gupta and Meera Kawaria have found a place in the list, with the former having been given Chandni Chowk and the latter North-West. Gupta, who is the standing committee chairman in the MCD, came through as the party gave in to Goel and had no one else to field in Chandni Chowk.
Said an insider, ``The ticket to Gupta makes corporators happy while giving the party a candidate in a seat where no one else was available.'' Kawaria's selection, meanwhile, was pretty much expected as BJP had already decided to field a woman candidate from the reserved North-West seat. Kawaria, a former mayor, makes it over Anita Arya, who also was a mayor but lost the assembly elections in 2008.
BJP's two stronger candidates in the list are perhaps Ramesh Bidhuri from South Delhi and B L Sharma Prem from North-East. While Bidhuri's candidature was expected, Prem being fielded from North-East is being seen as a calculated move. Prem, a staunch RSS member, could well be BJP's dark horse as the seat has a large Muslim population, with Seelampur, Ghondi, Matiala and other areas part of the constituency. Party sources say that here, Prem, with his RSS/VHP background, could polarize votes. Also, the party is expecting that Prem's image as a firebrand Hindutva leader could bring in the votes.
In the East, BJP's choice is Chetan Chauhan, the former cricketer and star campaigner for the party. Chauhan's selection comes in the wake of exclusion of former Delhi BJP head Harshvardhan though sources claim the latter didn't want the ticket. Chauhan, who would most likely be pitted against Sandeep Dikshit, is seen as an outsider and is a first-timer from Delhi. He has earlier fought from Amroha in UP but lost the elections in 2004. Chauhan would be seen as the underdog in the fight.