New Delhi: Resentment over ticket distribution for the municipal polls forced the Delhi BJP to change candidates in seven wards while two others were changed due to technical reasons on Monday, the last date to file nominations, party leaders said.
With a section of the party leaders and workers openly opposing the distribution of tickets in some wards, the BJP might announce the second list of 18 candidates for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) polls in the late hours of Monday.
With differences between senior leaders and workers brewing, the official candidates were changed on seven seats.
Gajendra Daral, whom the BJP had initially fielded from Mundka ward, was replaced by Arun Daral, while Mukul Agarwal was replaced by Inderjeet Kaur Lovely in Fatehnagar (W) and Akriti Kaur replaced Veena Rani Garg in Janakpuri South ward, party leaders said.
Shailendri Pradhan, who was the party candidate in Madhu Vihar ward, was replaced by Sushma Rathi, while Arti Yadav from Mehrauli was replaced by Indu Sharma. Said ul Ajab candidate Rampal Yadav was replaced by Kamal Yadav and Neeraj Gupta replaced Savita Devi in Sangam Vihar.
Lakshmi Mahor, BJP's candidate from Harsh Vihar, could not file his nomination due to incomplete documents. Instead, sitting party councilor Vijendri filed her papers from the ward, a senior BJP leader associated with candidate selection process said. Bhumika Singh was the official candidate from Sundar Nagari reserved seat. But she was not a resident of the ward and was replaced by a candidate named Renu, he said.
Party sources said while Inderjeet Kaur Lovely and Akriti Kaur were backed by BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa, three candidates supported by South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri got the party ticket at the last moment.
In another development, Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta issued a letter replacing six of the 14 district party unit presidents: Chandni Chowk, Navin Shahdara,
Shahdara, Mehrauli, North West Delhi and Najafgarh. However this decision was reversed within hours. Party leaders said the decision was taken as the district presidents were either directly contesting or their spouses and relatives were in the fray. However, it was not clear why Gupta's decision was withdrawn.
Taking a cue from this, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj had claimed that all the district presidents of Delhi BJP had resigned and held it as a "proof" that his party was winning.
BJP's MCD poll management committee head Ashish Sood hit back at Bhardwaj, saying he should be concerned about his AAP. Sood clarified that some of the district presidents were contesting the polls and highlighted that the BJP was a cadre-based party.