New Delhi: The entry of former cricketer Gautam Gambhir in the poll fray has made the fight tough in the Bharatiya Janata Party for the prestigious New Delhi Parliamentary constituency. While the party leadership in undecided on the candidates for Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha seats, many BJP leaders have emerged as contenders for the party ticket for the New Delhi constituency.
While Gautam Gambhir, who joined the BJP last week, is ahead of his competitors in the race, sitting MP Meenakashi Lekhi has opposed his name, saying that the party must not put celebrities ahead of party workers. In a meeting of Delhi BJP state election committee presided over by Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari and attended by BJP Lok Sabha poll in-charge, Nirmala Sitharaman, Lekhi accused the party leaders of sidelining the workers by bringing in candidates like Gambhir at the time of elections.
According to sources, Lekhi, while demanding a discussion on the matter, which was allowed by Tiwari, said, “Such a move is a setback for the party workers who have given their precious time and energy working in the constituency.” However, the top leadership reprimanded the state unit for allowing such a discussion against the party’s decision of inducting Gambhir. Notably, Gambhir was inducted in the BJP by senior leaders Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad, who took a serious note of the bickering in the Delhi BJP.
Lekhi is the only woman MP representing Delhi in the Lok Sabha and has been seeking re-nomination from the New Delhi seat which she won in 2014, with a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes. However, some party workers are opposing the candidature of Lekhi, alleging that she is “inaccessible” and does not have a good rapport with the local workers. Party leaders hinted that Lekhi’s failure to placate the significant trading community in the constituency in the wake of demonetisation, GST and the sealing drive could result in a denial of ticket to her. The New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency comprises several high-end as well as popular commercial hubs such as Connaught Place, Hauz Khas, Greater Kailash, Green Park, Khan Market, South Extension, Sarojini Nagar and Lajpat Nagar, among others.
In the wake of these developments, several BJP leaders are raising their claims on a Lok Sabha ticket from New Delhi. Prominent among them are Union Minister Vijay Goel and BJP vice president Shyam Jaju. Delhi BJP general secretaries Ravinder Gupta and Rajesh Bhatia, too, have been contending for the party ticket, while former DUSU office bearer and lawyer and office bearer Monika Arora is the other woman ticket probable from the seat.
Recently, the Delhi BJP has included Gambhir as a ticket probable in its list of 31 candidates sent to the BJP Central Election Committee. Sources said Gambhir is set to be declared the BJP candidate from New Delhi. The seat has been represented by veterans like Lal Krishna Advani and late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in the past.
Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said the candidates for seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi could be announced by 5 April. The filing of nominations will begin on 16 April. Voting for Delhi’s seven seats will be held in the sixth phase of the general elections, i.e. on 12 May.