Shah goes into huddle again; CEC put off

After BJP held a core group meeting on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday which lasted till 3 am, the party reconvened the meeting on Delhi polls at Amit Shah's residence. However, the party postponed its Central election committee meeting which was scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday evening.

Party's working president J.P. Nadda, General Secretary (organisation) B.L. Santosh, party's Delhi in-charge Prakash Javadekar, state President Manoj Tiwari among others were present in the meeting. Shyam Jaju, Harsh Vardhan were also part of the meeting on Monday afternoon.

The BJP has held a series of surveys of each constituency, sources said.

The nightlong meeting was to get final feedback on probable candidates for all seats in Delhi before deciding on the candidates on Monday's CEC, which was postponed at the last minute. The party's highest decision-making body on candidate selection may meet yet again on January 17, sources said.

Some of the prominent names that are likely to be taken up are Delhi BJP spokesperson Tajinder Bagga from Tilak Nagar and Kapil Mishra from Karawal Nagar among others.

Party sources said Vijender Gupta, who had won in 2015, is almost certain to be retained. However, some old faces could also be dropped. A section of the central BJP leadership wants giving a chance to fresh faces as such candidates don't carry any "baggage." The move could also send a positive message among the party cadre.

In the 2017 MCD elections, the party had not given ticket to a single sitting councilor. Sources said the party may not go that far in the Assembly polls, given factionalsm in the party. But a strong pitch is being made from within the central BJP to give a sizeable share of tickets to young candidates.

-- IANS