With only a day left for the nomination process to close, the decision on around 17 candidates in the Congress has become contentious. The final call on the names has been reportedly held back because of internal strife.
A few days back, the Congress had cleared the names of candidates for 56 seats. Forty-two sitting MLAs had been re-nominated from their assembly constituencies. A political fight is allegedly taking place within the party over the 14 seats on which the candidates have not been declared and three out of the 56 seats, on which the decision was already taken and announced.
The party withdrew the ticket given to Surender Kumar Setia from Hari Nagar and decided to award it to former BJP minister and sitting MLA HS Balli, who joined Congress on Wednesday. However, no formal decision on the seat has been announced so far.
The three seats from which declared candidates have been asked to wait before filing the nomination papers are Mundaka, Gokalpuri and Kirari. Sources said Naresh Kumar (Mundaka), Balzor Singh (Gokulpuri) and Amit Malik (Kirari) were not allowed to file nomination papers on Thursday. Friday is a gazetted holiday on account of Muharram so candidates can now file their nominations only on Saturday, which is the last day for filing nominations.
Sources say that the party has focused only on winnability and ignored the Poorvanchali and women factor in deciding on candidates. While the BJP has fielded five women candidates and six Poorvanchali candidates, sources say, the Congress is likely to filed only three sitting women MLAs including chief minister Sheila Dikshit, education minister Kiran Walia and Delhi Women Commission’s chairperson Barkha Singh.
The seats on which the decisions are pending are seen as BJP strongholds and the Congress is desperately looking for candidates who can win on these seats. Others seats where candidates have not been finalised are Burari, Rithala, Rohini, Tilak Nagar, Janak Puri, Dwarka, Najafgarh, Palam, Sangam Vihar, Greater Kailash, Karawal Nagar, Trilok Puri and Rajouri Garden.
A few days back, the Congress had cleared the names of candidates for 56 seats. Forty-two sitting MLAs had been re-nominated from their assembly constituencies. A political fight is allegedly taking place within the party over the 14 seats on which the candidates have not been declared and three out of the 56 seats, on which the decision was already taken and announced.
The party withdrew the ticket given to Surender Kumar Setia from Hari Nagar and decided to award it to former BJP minister and sitting MLA HS Balli, who joined Congress on Wednesday. However, no formal decision on the seat has been announced so far.
The three seats from which declared candidates have been asked to wait before filing the nomination papers are Mundaka, Gokalpuri and Kirari. Sources said Naresh Kumar (Mundaka), Balzor Singh (Gokulpuri) and Amit Malik (Kirari) were not allowed to file nomination papers on Thursday. Friday is a gazetted holiday on account of Muharram so candidates can now file their nominations only on Saturday, which is the last day for filing nominations.
Sources say that the party has focused only on winnability and ignored the Poorvanchali and women factor in deciding on candidates. While the BJP has fielded five women candidates and six Poorvanchali candidates, sources say, the Congress is likely to filed only three sitting women MLAs including chief minister Sheila Dikshit, education minister Kiran Walia and Delhi Women Commission’s chairperson Barkha Singh.
The seats on which the decisions are pending are seen as BJP strongholds and the Congress is desperately looking for candidates who can win on these seats. Others seats where candidates have not been finalised are Burari, Rithala, Rohini, Tilak Nagar, Janak Puri, Dwarka, Najafgarh, Palam, Sangam Vihar, Greater Kailash, Karawal Nagar, Trilok Puri and Rajouri Garden.