Ahead of byelection, BJP grapples with infighting

Infighting has once again seeped into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ranks over the selection of candidates for the upcoming bypolls to Krishna Nagar, Mehrauli and Tughlakabad assembly seats.

Infighting has once again seeped into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ranks over the selection of candidates for the upcoming bypolls to Krishna Nagar, Mehrauli and Tughlakabad assembly seats.

Sources in the BJP said the party was concerned that the bickering might affect their poll prospects. The three seats are crucial for them to emerge as the single largest party in the Capital.

The party on Saturday held its first election committee meeting to brainstorm over the list of probable candidates for the bypolls.

It was decided that Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay, MP Prabhat Jha and senior leader Vijay Sharma would discuss the probable names and send them to the central election committee.

Sources said MP Pravesh Verma skipped the meeting because he was upset over the fact that he had not been invited for Friday’s district meeting.

The sources said Upadhyay and former party MLA Vijay Jolly were both eyeing the Mehrauli seat.

“He (Jolly) has earlier served as an MLA from the Saket seat. After delimitation, many areas of the Saket assembly segment now fall under the Mehrauli seat. He has worked in the area for the past many years,” said a senior BJP leader.

According to senior BJP leaders, workers in the Tughlakabad assembly segment were also upset over Ramesh Bidhuri’s nephew being considered for the seat.

The workers believe that giving a ticket to Bidhuri’s nephew will encourage dynasty politics and demotivate them.

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan is expected to meet the state unit leaders on Saturday night to discuss the names for the Krishna Nagar constituency that he had represented.