Gurgaon: Noise around Ryan shocker drowns out MCG poll buzz

Sensing the solemn public mood in the wake of the Ryan incident, parties have delayed their campaign launch

Amidst the gloom surrounding the murder of an 8-year-old student of Ryan International school, Bhondsi and the extended media coverage of the incident, the buzz around the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) elections seems to have dulled significantly.

The MCG elections are to be held on September 24. (Sanjeev Verma/HT FILE PHOTO)

The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), which is yet to announce its list of candidates, was expected to start announcing candidates from September 8 onwards.

However, BJP sources revealed that the party members have decided against making the announcement on Friday, as the ‘timing of the announcement would not have been appropriate’.

“A large number of potential candidates had been interviewed and the party was expected to put out its first list of candidates on Friday. But, given the current scenario (the Ryan school case), party members have not made an announcement till now,” a source in the BJP said.

BJP officials said they may announce its final list on Sunday night and subsequently take a call on addressing a media conference on Monday or a future date, depending on the public mood in Gurgaon.

According to party sources, the top leadership will decide on the candidates on the basis of their ability to garner votes from the caste that they represent.

While the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to give the MCG elections a miss, the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which announced its list of candidates on Friday, are yet to switch to campaign mode.

The Congress is battling dissent and is yet to take a call on whether to contest the municipal polls on the party symbol.

While the parties are yet to switch to campaign gear, independent candidates, too, are biding their time and have refrained from going door to door to solicit support. Although the process of filing nomination started on Friday, not one candidate showed up to file the papers on the first day.

Read I Gurgaon: Election commission offers to hold MCG polls on previous ward positions

The district administration and MCG officials, responsible for carrying out election awareness campaigns through door-to-door visits, announcements on speakers at public spaces and running chartered buses bearing election awareness advertisements, are yet to step up a gear.