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BJP junks all its sitting councillors

Party takes surprise decision ahead of MCD polls on April 22 in bid to introduce fresh faces

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Manoj Tiwari
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As the Election Commission (EC) announced April 22 as the date for municipal corporation elections in Delhi, the BJP, in a surprise move, decided to junk all its sitting 153 councillors and give tickets to fresh faces. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Congress, on the other hand, insisted that electronic voting machines (EVMs) be done away with and replaced with ballot papers. The two parties have put forward the demand amid the clamour over EVMs being tampered with in the UP elections.

In a shocker to the sitting councillors, Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari and pradesh in-charge Shyam Jaju — taking all the six other MPs from Delhi, including Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, on board — made an announcement that the "sitting councillors and their family members will not be given tickets to fight the elections". Tiwari said that the party leadership has decided to bring in new, young faces for the municipal polls, and the sitting councillors and even their family members will not be given tickets. "We have unanimously decided to field fresh faces in the municipal polls. Even family members of the councillors and party leaders will not be given tickets," said Tiwari.

Party sources said that the decision was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the colossal defeat of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and BJP alliance in Punjab. The Congress won 77 out of the 117 seats in Punjab.

AAP came second with 20 seats, followed by the SAD-BJP alliance, which won 18 seats. The SAD-BJP combine, which has been ruling the state for 10 years, struggled due to multiple factors, including anti-incumbency.

Sources said, "The PM has taken a decision to end anti-incumbency of 10 years. He also wants new faces in the upcoming municipal polls, and so it was decided that all the BJP's sitting councillors would be dropped from the list of candidates." The sources added that Modi, during his tenure as the CM of Gujarat, had taken a similar decision for civic polls in Surat.

Tiwari, who carries an 'outsider' tag in Delhi, claimed that the decision was a step towards realising Modi's vision of a 'new India', driven by the power of the youth to build a 'new city'.

The decision is likely to lead to huge infighting in the party. But Tiwari brushed aside speculation of the standing councillors rebelling against the party. He said, "In the BJP, people do not work for posts. Everyone will work together and the people will also accept it."

Tiwari said that the decision to deny tickets to sitting councillors was first taken in a core committee meeting, and then in a meeting of the state office bearers. "We called all the sitting councillors in the morning and informed them about the party's decision. A majority have accepted the decision, and only 20 per cent of the councillors voiced objections. They urged that the central leadership be contacted about the decision. I personally approached the central leadership and conveyed their sentiment. The central leadership said that the decision should be followed true to its spirit, and there should not be any pick-and-choose policy to adjust a few councillors," Tiwari said.

Sources said that a few senior councillors opposed the decision, saying it would damage the electoral prospects of the party in the civic polls.

The BJP's decision is in contrast to the Congress', which had recently announced that all the sitting councillors would be given tickets and all they need to do is to gear up for the polls.

Tiwari also attacked AAP Convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and city Congress Chief Ajay Maken over the demand of EVMs being scrapped.

Tiwari said that Kejriwal and Maken have asked the State Election Commissioner to conduct the forthcoming civic elections through ballot papers instead of EVMs. "This demonstrates their utter frustration and the apprehension that they will lose the civic elections. It is surprising that the Congress has won and lost many elections in the country and in Delhi, but today doubts the credibility of EVMs. If Kejriwal and Maken do not trust EVMs, then Kejriwal should go in for a re-poll for the Delhi Assembly and Maken should ask the Congress leadership to call for a re-election in Punjab through ballot papers," he said.

Earlier in the day, Kejriwal after publicly demanding the scrapping of EVMs, wrote a letter to Chief Secretary (CS) MM Kutty about it.

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