With the Assembly polls drawing closer, the councillors of the ruling BJP in three Municipal Corporations have been seeking a bigger share in the distribution of tickets.
In a meeting with former BJP president and Delhi in-charge Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday, the leaders of the three Corporations demanded that preference be given to them over sitting MlAs citing their development works during the seven years of rule. The leaders also gave a presentation to Gadkari highlighting the achievements of the Corporations during these years.
Councillors said a ‘promotion’ was due as the party and its policy had denied them tickets for the Assembly polls in 2008. They said majority of the councillors enjoy popularity among the voters; with a number of them elected to the Corporation for three or four terms. “The victory margin of these councillors in Municipal elections is a testimony to their popularity among the voters. Further, the development works done during the last seven years will strengthen our winning prospects in the upcoming Assembly polls. We should certainly be ‘promoted’,” said a three-time Municipal councillor, who attended the meeting. He said there was possibility of the sitting MlAs facing anti-incumbency while the councillors, being in constant touch with the public, have been delivering the services.
Over a hundred BJP councillors in the North and South Corporations were present in the meeting that was called for assessment of the party’s preparations for the polls. A similar meeting was also conducted with the BJP MlAs last month. Sources said Gadkari has sought a detailed report from the councillors on the vote count in their respective wards. Further, he asked them to work on increasing the victory margin.
“Gadkari has assured that the previous record of all councillors will be considered while deciding on the candidates. There is no bar on fielding councillors in the elections. However, a decision will be taken after assessing their capability to garner maximum votes,” said another senior leader present in the meeting.
Sources said there are over a dozen sitting councillors who are strong contenders for the Assembly tickets. Prominent among them are leader of House in South Corporation Subhash Arya, his counterpart in North Corporation Mahender Nagpal, leader of House in EDMC BB Tyagi, Standing Committee Chairman in SDMC Rahesh Gehlot, a Dalit leader and ex-chairman of Standing Committee of unified MCD and North Corporation Yogender Chandolia and former Mayor Rajni Abbi.
Some other names include sitting councillors Mahek Singh, Sanjay Surjan, Devender Kumar, lata Gupta, Anil Sharma and Purnima Vidyarthi. Among ex-councillors, the name of former Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta and former Mayor Arti Mehra are also emerging as contenders for the party ticket.