BJP may field five ex-MLAs

In a desperate attempt to ensure the party’s victory in the upcoming municipal bypolls in 13 wards in the city, the Delhi BJP is mulling to field five former councillors who became MLAs after winning in the 2013 Delhi Assembly election.

All the five former MLAs, however, told party leadership that they were not interested in contesting the municipal bypolls.

A senior Delhi BJP leader said unable to find a suitable candidate for the bypolls in which chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party is making its local election debut, the party state leadership thinking of fielding these five leaders from the municipal wards they had represented earlier.

Last week, Delhi BJP in-charge Shyam Jaju had called a meeting of all former MLAs who had won the 2013 Assembly polls and lost the Assembly polls in 2015. A well-placed party source said that Mr Jaju held a meeting with these five MLAs — Anil Sharma, Mahendra Nagpal, Rajesh Gehlot, Ram Kishan Singhal and Jitender Singh Shunty — at his residence and told these leaders that the Delho BJP leadership wanted them to contest bypolls from the municipal wards they won in 2012 civic polls.

Another leader said that there is another opinion that the party should give tickets to candidates chosen by these former MLAs who have deep knowledge of the municipal wards and ask them to ensure the BJP candidates’ victory in their respective wards. “But the party leadership is planning to field these former MLAs to strengthen chances of victory,” he added.

A former BJP MLA, who has been asked to contest the civic bypolls, told this newspaper that they do not have enough energy or resources to contest five elections in five years. “Already contested three elections since 2012, two successfully (2012 municipal polls and 2013 Delhi Assembly polls) and one unsuccessfully (2015 Assembly polls). Now, the party once again is asking me to contest the bypolls in 2016 then I have to also contest 2017 civic polls. In five years, five polls will be always a difficult task and this the reason I refused to contest coming municipal bypolls,” he added.

The municipal wards lying vacant are Khichripur and Jhilmil in East Delhi Municipal Corporation, Wazirpur, Shalimar Bagh North, Kamruddin Nagar and Ballimaran in North Delhi Municipal Corporation, Matialla, Bhatti, Munirka, Nanakpura, Nawada, Tehkhand and Vikas Nagar in South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

The councillors of the nine municipal wards had resigned from their position in December 2013 after being elected as legislators in the Delhi Assembly elections. Four more resigned after the February 2015 Assembly polls.