New Delhi: With the Aam Aadmi Party emerging as a strong contender and opinion polls projecting a hung Assembly, the Congress and the BJP are facing one of their toughest challenges in Delhi. The two national parties are also battling with infighting over ticket distribution.
A day after the BJP named 62 out of 70 candidates, protests broke out outside party's Delhi in-charge Nitin Gadkari's house and during a press conference by its chief ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan against the party's decision to give its Mehrauli ticket to Sahib Singh Verma's son Pravesh Verma.
Protesters claiming to be supporter's of former mayor of South Delhi Municipal Corporation Savita Chaudhary shouted slogans and even tried to heckle Harsh Vardhan at the party's state office. "Pravesh Verma is an outsider, no one knows him here. Chaudhary had been working on ground for so long, how can they refuse to give her the ticket?" said one party worker.
Saheb Singh Verma's strongholds have always been outer Delhi constituencies like his birth place Mundka, so his son getting a ticket from Mehrauli has angered many workers
In fact the party's decision to repeat sitting MLA Manoj Kumar Shokeen has left North Delhi Mayor Azad Singh fuming, as he had been eyeing the same seat. Azad Singh has reportedly even offered his resignation to BJP President Rajnath Singh over the same.
Many in the party are also unhappy that the son of former MLA Rajiv Babbar and VK Malhotra's son Ajay Malhotra have got party tickets. "We accuse Congress of dynasty politics and what are we doing in our own party," said another irate worker.
The Congress which has been criticising the BJP for infighting seems to be divided house itself. Despite several meetings as a consensus couldn't be reached by the election committee of Delhi Pradesh Congress, the final decision has been left to the party's Central Election Committee.
In fact, many young leaders are trying to get tickets against sitting MLas, who are most likely to be repeated by the party. Many of the aspirants even got survey reports to the DPCC office showing how the sitting MLAs had been losing support of the public in their constituencies.
Several leaders are also reportedly eyeing the same seat which is causing a lot of friction. For example, the party is expected to field independent Asif Mohhamed Khan, who was with Lalu Prasad's RJD earlier, from Okhla .
However, Rajya Sabha MP Parveez Hasmi, who won the Okhla seat in 2008 is openly opposed to this, as he wants to field his son Farhan from the same seat. Also party's spokesperson Jitendra Kochar has been eyeing the ticket from Malviya Nagar, which is currently occupied by Delhi Women and Child Welfare Minister Kiran Walia.
Tickets of candidates like Dayanand Chandela from Rajouri Garden who have pending cases against them also seems to a big concern for the party.
In fighting has been one termite which has been eating the Congress and BJP for long - but with the AAP also in the fray this time around - the parties will have to overcome their internal differences, before it gets too late.
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