Cong panel clears decks for winnable candidates
15 Oct 2013 11:59 PM GMT
After two turbulent rounds of meetings of Delhi Congress election committee, tickets for 29-odd sitting MLAs have been cleared. According to well-placed sources chief minister Sheila Dikshit brooked no opposition on the names of 29-odd MLAs about whom she has received ‘very positive’ reports from an independent survey on the performance of the sitting legislators.
Though sources in the Dikshit camp claimed that the chief minister agreed to keep the name of just one sitting MLA, Dayanand Chandila from Rajouri Garden as pending, another member of the committee told Millennium Post, ‘this did not mean that the committee has endorsed the names of the 42 others.’
Sources insisted that there was still debates on the names of 13 sitting MLAS. Dikshit camp said that of the remaining 13, seven have been cleared, while two names would be sent from Malviya Nagar, Rajendra Nagar, Jangpura, Okhla, Badli and Narela. Of these the first two are represented by ministers Kiran Walia and Ramakant Goswami respectively. The names of the remaining four ministers – Ashok Walia (Laxmi Nagar), Arvinder Singh Lovely (Gandhi Nagar), Haroon Yusuf (Ballimaran) and Rajkumar Chouhan (Mongolpuri) stood cleared, sources added. Chief minister would again be contesting from her New Delhi seat.
The committee also authroised chief minister and Delhi Congress president Jai Prakash Agarwal to take a call on the remaining 28 seats, which were lost by the Congress in the last polls. Since the name of sitting MLA Dayanand Chandila has been kept pending on the account of facing a criminal case, the same principle could guide the selection of other candidates. This could jeopardize chances of celebrity aspirants like Daler Mehndi.
Sources said that committee member Tajdar Babar opposed name of Tarwinder Singh Marwah from Jangpura, as her son Farhad Suri is seeking a ticket from this seat. Similarly, Rajya Sabha MP Parvez Hashmi has jumped into the fray from Okhla, while Dikshit has promised to give ticket to Asif Mohammed Khan. Asif has recently joined the Congress party. Badli MLA Devender Yadav’s name was opposed by union minister Krishna Tirath, who has alleged that there are criminal cases against him. It is learnt that Yadav has conveyed that there is no FIR registered against him.
Tirath has also opposed the name of Jaswant Rana from Narela on account of non-performance. Jitender Kochchar who is trying to get ticket from Malviya Nagar has opposed the candidature of Kiran Walia from Malviya Nagar, alleging that she will be a weak candidate due to non performance.
AICC functionary Manish Chatrath has opposed Ramakant Goswami’s candidature from Rajender Nagar saying his name was not recommended by block and district presidents.
Clearance of the name of the state election committee doesn’t necessarily mean that the person has been allotted party ticket to contest the upcoming assembly polls. The list will be whetted by a central screening committee of the party and final decision will be taken by it.
Though sources in the Dikshit camp claimed that the chief minister agreed to keep the name of just one sitting MLA, Dayanand Chandila from Rajouri Garden as pending, another member of the committee told Millennium Post, ‘this did not mean that the committee has endorsed the names of the 42 others.’
Sources insisted that there was still debates on the names of 13 sitting MLAS. Dikshit camp said that of the remaining 13, seven have been cleared, while two names would be sent from Malviya Nagar, Rajendra Nagar, Jangpura, Okhla, Badli and Narela. Of these the first two are represented by ministers Kiran Walia and Ramakant Goswami respectively. The names of the remaining four ministers – Ashok Walia (Laxmi Nagar), Arvinder Singh Lovely (Gandhi Nagar), Haroon Yusuf (Ballimaran) and Rajkumar Chouhan (Mongolpuri) stood cleared, sources added. Chief minister would again be contesting from her New Delhi seat.
The committee also authroised chief minister and Delhi Congress president Jai Prakash Agarwal to take a call on the remaining 28 seats, which were lost by the Congress in the last polls. Since the name of sitting MLA Dayanand Chandila has been kept pending on the account of facing a criminal case, the same principle could guide the selection of other candidates. This could jeopardize chances of celebrity aspirants like Daler Mehndi.
Sources said that committee member Tajdar Babar opposed name of Tarwinder Singh Marwah from Jangpura, as her son Farhad Suri is seeking a ticket from this seat. Similarly, Rajya Sabha MP Parvez Hashmi has jumped into the fray from Okhla, while Dikshit has promised to give ticket to Asif Mohammed Khan. Asif has recently joined the Congress party. Badli MLA Devender Yadav’s name was opposed by union minister Krishna Tirath, who has alleged that there are criminal cases against him. It is learnt that Yadav has conveyed that there is no FIR registered against him.
Tirath has also opposed the name of Jaswant Rana from Narela on account of non-performance. Jitender Kochchar who is trying to get ticket from Malviya Nagar has opposed the candidature of Kiran Walia from Malviya Nagar, alleging that she will be a weak candidate due to non performance.
AICC functionary Manish Chatrath has opposed Ramakant Goswami’s candidature from Rajender Nagar saying his name was not recommended by block and district presidents.
Clearance of the name of the state election committee doesn’t necessarily mean that the person has been allotted party ticket to contest the upcoming assembly polls. The list will be whetted by a central screening committee of the party and final decision will be taken by it.
Next Story
