With Assembly elections in Delhi pushed back to December, ticket aspirants in the BJP will have to wait longer. The party is likely to announce its candidates by the end of October as the Central leadership is busy with the task of finalising candidates in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, which go to polls before Delhi. A senior Delhi BJP leader said the Parliamentary Board of the BJP will be discussing ticket distribution in Delhi only after the remaining States. Earlier, the BJP had indicated announcing the candidates during Navratra.
Sources said the list of candidates could be announced any time around October 31 and there was possibility that the announcement could also be deferred post Diwali, which falls on November 3. In any case, the candidates would have at least 30 days for campaigning in their respective constituencies.
The notification for Delhi polls will be issued on November 9 by the lieutenant Governor of Delhi and nominations could be filed till November 16. As per the schedule, scrutiny of the nominations will be done on November 18 and the candidature could be withdrawn latest by November 20. Voting in the Capital is scheduled for December 4.
Party leaders said the BJP leadership would first finalise the candidates in Chhattisgarh that goes to polls on November 11 and 19. This will be followed by Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where polling will be held on November 25 and December 1 respectively.
“The Central leadership has decided to discuss ticket distribution in Delhi at the end. This means the candidates will be announced only after October 30 or even after Diwali,” said a senior leader. He, however, said this would, in other ways, lead to lesser infighting and dissidence among ticket contenders.
Earlier, the BJP had said the delay in announcement of candidates was due to the inauspicious period of shradh. The announcement was further postponed in the wake of preparations for September 29 Vikas Rally of Narendra Modi.
The Delhi BJP has already sent the list of probable candidates to party observers in each of the 14 districts. It was, however, indicated that the candidates could be declared during Navratra but the process was put on hold after the election in Delhi was fixed for December 4.