The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday announced the names of its candidates for four out of five Assembly constituencies in Ghaziabad and two out of three in Gautam Buddh Nagar district.
The party, however, did not announce its candidates for Noida and Sahibabad seats due to “pending issues”. These names figure in a list of 149 candidates in first and second phases of the UP Assembly elections.
On the eve of the filing of nominations, Union Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda announced the first list of names after the meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee on Monday. Sources said there are divergent views in the party over dropping some of the MLAs, causing a delay in the final announcement.
Atul Garg, a businessman and son of Ghaziabad’s former Mayor Dinesh Chandra Garg has been nominated from Ghaziabad. Ajit Pal Tyagi from Muradnagar and Vijaypal Aadhati from Hapur have been chosen to contest the polls.
For the Loni seat, Nand Kishor Khatana has been nominated. However, no name has been given for Sahibabad seat which is likely to be announced soon.
In Gautam Buddh Nagar district, ex-member of Zila panchayat Tejpal Nagar has been nominated from Dadri constituency while the surprises on the list include a new entrant who recently switched from the Congress to BJP, Dheerendra Singh, who has been nominated for Jewar seat. There has been no announcement from Noida due to some internal matters and the same is likely to come out soon.
Union Minister J P Nadda, who is also the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) secretary, said that the party has given representation to “all sections” of society in the list. The party has taken due care in keeping the credentials of the candidates in mind while giving tickets. The names of remaining candidates will be announced soon.
With Monday’s announcement, the BJP has declared its candidates for 149 seats in the 403-member state Assembly. The names finalised by the party are mostly among those suggested by the district heads. It will be quite interesting to see how the party reacts as many new entrants have been given the opportunity against those who have served the party for years.
In 2012, four Assembly seats in Ghaziabad — Loni, Muradnagar, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad and two Assembly seats in Gautam Buddh Nagar — Dadri and Jewar — were won by the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).