Those with clean image will be given tickets in civic polls: BJP

New Delhi: Party leaders with a clean image and a good track record of working among people will be given a chance to contest the MCD polls, BJP national vice-president and in-charge of its Delhi unit Baijayant Panda said on Monday.

Those desirous of poll tickets should stop doing a "Ganesh parikrama" of leaders and rather go and work amidst people, he said at the executive meeting of the Delhi BJP.

The leaders with a clean image will get the poll tickets, Panda said, adding that the winnability factor will also be taken into consideration.

Ruling the three municipal corporations of Delhi continuously since 2007, the the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will combat anti-incumbency and a resurgent Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the civic polls slated to be held early next year. The Congress will be another major contender.

Panda said Delhi has been the saffron party's stronghold since the times of the Jan Sangh and called upon the BJP leaders and workers to ensure the party's victory in the polls.

"We have to take all sections of the society together and if we can do that, no power can defeat us not only in the ensuing corporations elections, but in the Assembly polls as well," he said.

Panda emphasised on preparing for the polls with positive thinking and a definite plan.

"We not only have to expose the misdeeds and mistakes of our rivals but at the same time, we have to ensure that a message about the welfare programmes and policies of the Narendra Modi government reaches every nook and corner. If our workers and leaders move forward unitedly, nobody can beat us," he said.

There are a total 272 municipal wards in the city — 104 each in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, besides 64 in the East Delhi Municipal Corporation. The BJP had swept the previous polls in 2017 by winning 181 wards.