MCD polls: BJP tells aspirants choose election ticket or party post

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari on Monday said party leaders occupying positions in the executive committee must resign from the post before staking claim for a ticket in the forthcoming elections

In a crucial decision taken just before the municipal polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi has decided to consider candidature of office bearers or family members only after they leave the post they are holding at present.

BJP Delhi president Manoj Tiwari has told partymen that they will have to choose either the party post or ticket for the upcoming MCD polls. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

State unit chief Manoj Tiwari on Monday said party leaders occupying positions in the executive committee must resign from the post before staking claim for a ticket in the forthcoming elections.

“It is very clear and simple. They are not going to be ‘favoured’ or ‘preferred’ because of their stature in the party. The rule is intended to create a level playing field for all party workers,” he said.

Read: Delhi MCD polls: BJP ticket seekers ‘must believe’ in PM’s policies, says Tiwari

The decision of the party has come as a big blow for the new team of office bearers. Sources said leaders holding different posts in the committee were hoping to secure the ticket for themselves or their family members without much difficulty. “They would have thinking it would be cake walk for them. After this ‘resolution’, the situation has turned upside down. They have to follow the exercise, which ‘other’ party workers will be doing,” said a source.

In the new team of office bearers, two general secretaries Rajesh Bhatia and Ravinder Gupta are sitting councillors in the North Delhi Municipal Corporation. Bhatia, councillor from Rajinder Nagar ward is also deputy chairman of standing committee, the key decision-making body of the corporation. Gupta, a former north Delhi mayor, is from Karol Bagh ward. Meenakshi, a corporator from Shiv Vihar ward, is also secretary in Delhi BJP. She was EDMC mayor earlier.

A party insider said party’s assessment is already going on and soon it will plan its strategy for municipal polls. “The Delhi BJP will be in complete election mode after March 6, when the election campaigning ends in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.

Read: MCD polls: Infighting surfaces in Delhi BJP, leaders seek appointment from Amit Shah

Earlier, Tiwari has said that tickets will be given to only those 272 individuals who love the Delhi city and believe in policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Tickets to sitting councillors aren’t guaranteed. All elected members of corporations have been asked to furnish their performance report and an internal party survey is already on to assess their performance,” the BJP leader has said.