New Delhi: Miffed at not getting party tickets, prominent local leaders of Congress and BJP have jumped into electoral fray which could spell trouble for both the parties in the coming Delhi municipal polls.
At least eight Congress leaders and six BJP members have filed nomination papers for the April 15 polls opposing official party candidates. The rebels include sitting
councillors.
Adding to the woes of Congress, the NCP is welcoming
Congress rebels into its fold and giving tickets to them.
However, leaders in Congress and BJP say rebels are a
permanent feature of every election as the party cannot
satisfy each and every worker. "We are trying to convince the
rebels. Wait till the last day of withdrawal," the leaders
said.
As soon as both the parties made public the candidates`
list, the leaders who could not find their names in the list
filed their nominations on the last day of filing papers.
After being denied party tickets, at least three sitting
Congress councillors Bansi Lal (Geeta Colony), Usha Gupta
(Sitapur) and N Raja (Kohat Enclave) have filed their
nominations against official candidates.
Other prominent local Congress leaders like Anil Kasana
(Khanpur), Praveen Kasana (Chhattarpur), Jagdish Arora (Rani
Bagh), Balchand Chaudhury (Shahdara and Rohtas Bidhuri
(Tuglaqabad) have also filed papers against official nominees.
In BJP, Delhi Mayor Rajni Abbi will be the most prominent
figure to face rebel trouble as state BJP secretary Narender
Tandon, who rose in ranks through ABVP, chose to file
nomination against her in Mukherjee Nagar ward.
Sitting councillor Vijay Pandit is fielding his wife
Seema as INLD candidate while other councillors like Harish
Awasthi and Prabha Singh have filed their papers against
official BJP candidates from Rohini and New Ashok Nagar
respectively.
Leaders of both the parties had to face protests
following announcement of candidates list.
PTI
