Severe infighting and failure to reach a consensus on the chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly elections has forced the BJP to postpone the date for announcing the list of the party candidates.
The party, however, maintained that preparations for Narendra Modi’s rally scheduled in the city on 29 September is the reason behind the delay in announcing the list. According to sources, the list of candidates will be declared around mid-October.
The city BJP chief Vijay Goel, around a fortnight back, had announced that the party would come up with its first list of candidates on 15 September, which would include unanimously agreed upon candidates for around half of the 70 odd assembly segments in the city. This was to be followed by a second list, by the end of September, which was to include ‘disputed’ seats to be finalised by the central leadership. Two senior leaders of the party were appointed as independent observers for each parliamentary constituency with 10 assembly seats each. The move was aimed at getting the feedback of party workers about the potential candidates.
Sources said, the infighting is the reason behind the delay as the party is still in dilemma over its chief ministerial candidate. The top three contestants for the post are Harshvardhan, Vijay Goel and Vijender Gupta.
However, some senior party leaders have presented another interesting reason behind the decision — the declaration of the list will shrink the expected crowd in the rally. ‘If the candidates are finalised for some seats we will have only one leader to bring in people,’ said a senior leader. ‘A week crowed at Ram Lila Ground will certainly attract ire of central leadership as Delhi is the launching pad for Modi as the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections,’ said another senior leader of BJP.