Delhi bypoll: BJP accelerates process to select candidate

New Delhi: With less than a month to go for the Rajinder Nagar Assembly bypoll, the Delhi BJP has accelerated the process of candidate selection for the seat that has a large chunk of slum-dwelling voters.

"We are working on the ground and the process of candidate selection has also been fast-tracked. Delhi BJP in-charge Baijayant Panda and other leaders held a meeting in the constituency on Thursday, in which the preparations for the bypolls were discussed," said a leader of the saffron party.

Several names, including that of Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta, former Rajinder Nagar MLA RP Singh, former Delhi BJP general secretary Rajesh Bhatia, Delhi BJP spokespersons Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga and Harish Khurana, are doing the rounds as probable candidates. "Gupta and Bagga have conveyed their unwillingness to contest the bypoll

from Rajinder Nagar to the national leaders," claimed a senior party leader.

He said 12 of the winning candidates in the last 14 Assembly polls held in Rajinder Nagar were Punjabis. The Punjabi voters account for 40 per cent of the total votes in the constituency, he said.

The constituency has a diverse mix of voters, including the dominant Punjabis and Scheduled Caste voters. There are 17 large slum settlements in the constituency, including Inderpuri and Pandav Nagar, BJP leaders said.

The last BJP candidate to win the seat was RP Singh in 2013.

The ruling AAAP is likely to field senior leader Durgesh Pathak from the constituency.

The results of the bypoll will be announced on June 26.