Date:05/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/05/stories/2008110562410300.htm

New Delhi

BJP to announce final list today

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

NEW DELHI: The BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate for Delhi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, is likely to file his nomination papers on November 8. The day is considered by the party as auspicious and some other party leaders are also planning to file their papers on that day.

The party, which has announced the names of 53 candidates so far, is expected to announce the remaining 13 names for elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly on Wednesday.

It has given four of the seats to the Shiromani Akali Dal which would be fighting the elections as an ally and most probably on the BJP symbol. The Dal has announced that it would field Ravinder Singh Khurana from Adarsh Nagar, Avtar Singh Hit from Rajouri Garden, Manjinder Singh Sirsa from Jangpura and Jitender Singh Shanty from Shahdara.

Professor Malhotra said the decision on the remaining names would be taken at the Central Election Committee meeting to be held at the party’s central office on Wednesday.

He said the party symbols would also be given to all the selected candidates during the day. The nomination process for the elections began on Tuesday with the issue of notification and would be open till November 11.

Some other BJP leaders, such as Shakur Basti candidate Shyam Lal Garg, have also made up their mind to file their nominations on Saturday which is being considered auspicious on account of being a “dashmi”.

In the meantime, it is learnt that several party leaders are angry at the manner in which Akali candidates have been fielded from Adarsh Nagar and Shahdara. A local BJP leader and former MLA Ram Niwas Goyal has raised the banner of revolt in the area. He has questioned the allotment of the seat to the Akalis when even they were not too keen on it as Sikhs or Punjabis do not have a significant presence in the constituency.

Several BJP leaders are charging that the party has compromised on the quality of candidates on some seats and that this amounted to giving these seats to the Congress on a platter.

Besides Adarsh Nagar and Shahdara, the party, they insist should also have reconsidered its decision on constituencies such as Deoli, Kirari, Gandhi Nagar and Mangolpuri.