New list for Delhi candidates not because centre unhappy, says BJP

New Delhi: Senior party leaders of Delhi BJP on Tuesday said that they are working on a new list of probable candidates to send to the party High Command. This comes after some members of the central leadership reportedly sent back the first list sent by the BJP state election committee on Friday last, which proposed 21 probable candidates for the seven seats in the Capital city.

Sources familiar with developments within the state unit have confirmed that out of 15 members of the state election committee, 12 have listed themselves as probable candidates. This includes all seven sitting MPs, three party general secretaries, Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel, and LoP in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta.

However, when asked about why the central leaders might have asked to rework the list, Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari denied that any such list had been prepared or sent to the central unit of the party as of yet. He said that the state election committee is still shortlisting the probable candidates for recommendation.

Moreover, BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana denied reports of the party High Command being unhappy with the state leadership's list. He said that the central leadership is not disappointed with the list. "In fact, they have just asked for a more succint list from the state election committee,"

he said.

Defending these party members, Delhi BJP spokesperson, Ashish Sood said, "All party members have a right to claim a ticket in the Lok Sabha elections and they just seem to have exercised that right."

Speaking to the Millennium Post, Delhi BJP leader Sood added that this move by the central leadership is probably being made so that they can consider all possible names that could help the party win in the upcoming polls. "More than individual candidates, it is important to make sure the party gets elected again," he said.