BJP forms sub-committee to scrutinise candidates for MCG elections

With the state still believed to be in the grip of a strong BJP wave, party members don’t want to miss out on a chance to secure tickets for the forthcoming municipal polls

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday constituted a sub-committee for scrutinising the candidates for Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) elections scheduled to be held on September 24.

The party received 800 applicants from aspirants till Monday, of which 400 have been rejected and the rest of the candidates will be scrutinised by the sub-committee, said a senior party leader. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The party received 800 applicants from aspirants till Monday, of which 400 have been rejected and the rest of the candidates will be scrutinised by the sub-committee, said a senior party leader.

The committee will be headed by BJP’s Haryana president Subhash Barala and comprises six other leaders, including agriculture minister OP Dhankar, transport minister Krishan Pal Gurjar, and district president Bhupender Chauhan.

The decision was taken after a meeting of senior party leaders, headed by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, at Haryana Bhawan on Tuesday.

“Party will give preference to candidates associated with the organisation and having clean image,” said Brala after the meeting.

Party has announced that it will contest the civic elections on party symbol and asked aspirants to submit their applications.

Sources in the party said that the leaders are already flooded with a large number of applications, as aspirants are making all efforts to secure tickets.

“Aspirants are approaching senior party leaders in the state as well as the central leadership for securing ticket. Civic elections in Gurgaon are high profile and keeping in mind the strong BJP wave in the state currently, no one wants to miss out on a chance to get a ticket,” said a senior party leader active in Gurgaon.

In the 2011 MCG elections, BJP bagged only four seats, while six went to Indian National Lok Dal and the rest 25 were won by independent candidates. Most of the independent candidates were supported by Union minister of state (independent charge) for planning Rao Inderjit Singh, who was with the Congress back then.

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Later, Rao Inderjit Singh joined BJP and and a band of councillors loyal to him, too, joined the BJP.

This time the party set sights on bagging more than 30 seats out of the total 35.

“We will aim to increase our representation in the civic body. A number of people have already applied (for tickets), but the candidates will be scrutinised and finalised by senior leaders,” said Rama Malik, party spokesperson.

The elections are to be held on September 24 and the results will be declared on the same day.