Date:18/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/18/stories/2008091860831200.htm

National

Rajnath Singh to contest from Ghaziabad

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: It is almost certain that BJP president Rajnath Singh will contest the Lok Sabha election from Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, a constituency he has been nursing for some time now and where he recently addressed a big public meeting.

Party veteran Murli Manohar Joshi has apparently set his eyes on Varanasi. His old constituency, Allahabad, is no longer considered safe for the BJP.

General secretary Arun Jaitley has yet to make up his mind on whether should contest or play a key role in managing the election. One of the options he is understood to be considering is Jammu, where he was very much in touch with the Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti during the stir for restoration of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board. Also, his in-laws belong to Jammu.

Apparently, a serious suggestion in the party was that Mr. Jaitley be projected as the chief ministerial candidate in Delhi, but he has resisted it.

The strong contenders for this post are the party’s deputy leader in the Lok Sabha V.K. Malhotra and State unit president Harsh Vardhan. It is for the party parliamentary board to decide whether the BJP will or will not project a chief ministerial candidate for Delhi.

In three other States going to the polls later this year – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – the BJP has already announced that it will retain the current Chief Ministers — Vasundhara Raje, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and B. Raman — if the party emerges winner.