The 26-member committee formed by former party president and Delhi’s election in-charge Nitin Gadkari to decide candidates for Assembly polls is in a “fix “ with too many aspirants for the 70 tickets. The committee was formed to suggest strong contenders for the upcoming Assembly polls. Ironically, out of these 26 members, 20 members have suggested their own names in the proposed candidates’ list or have put forwards the name of one of their relatives. The election core committee was formed last month. BJP’s Delhi unit president Vijay Goel was appointed head of both panels, also comprising Vijender Gupta, Vijay Jolly, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Aarti Mehra, Pawan Sharma, Shikha Rai, Pravesh Verma, Vimal Malhotra and Yogender Chandolia among others. “Out of these 26 members, about 20 are themselves willing to contest elections,” a source said. Among these 20 election committee members are Vijay Goel, former Delhi BJP chief Vijender Gupta, Shikha Rai, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Pawan Sharma, Vijay Jolly, Aarti Mehra. ”In case, these members fail to convince the committee for ticket, the matter would then be referred to the party high command,” the source said. “These leaders are planning to contest elections, but the election in-charge instead appointed them to recommend candidates for the party ticket.” Several other senior leaders are also seeking tickets for their relatives and close-associates. Former chief minister Madan Lal Khurana’s son Vimal Khurana is seeking ticket from Moti Nagar while Sahib Singh Verma’s son Parvesh Verma is bidding for Matiala or Mundka seat. Khurana and Verma have been known to be the ‘mass leaders’ of Delhi. Leader of the Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Prof., Vijay Kumar Malhotra is also keen to field his son Ajay Malhotra from Greater Kailash seat. Senior BJP leader and MLA O.P. Babbar wants his son Rajeev Babbar to contest from Tilak Nagar while former Delhi BJP chief Mange Ram Garg also wants a ticket for his son Satish from Wazirpur constituency.
