BJP to Declare Candidates For Delhi Polls Much Earlier Than AAP ?, Details Inside

New Delhi: The BJP is considering an "early declaration" of its candidates for the ensuing Delhi Assembly elections to get a headstart over its rivals AAP and Congress . 

The suggestion to announce early the list of party candidates for the assembly polls due in February was also discussed in the recent 'Chintan Baithak' (brainstorming session) of Delhi BJP 's extended core committee held in Rajasthan 's Ranthambore, a former state party chief was quoted as saying by news agency PTI. 

"The issue of candidate selection and announcement of names of candidates was raised by some leaders, including a party MP. It was contended that early announcement of tickets will benefit the party in campaigning," he said.

BJP 's national leadership is aware of the demand of some senior Delhi BJP leaders for early declaration of tickets as the two-day session in Ranthambore was also attended by the party's national general secretary B L Santhosh, he added.

‘Early Declaration of Candidates Will Boost Momentum’

The demand for announcing candidates sooner than later picked up momentum as the BJP on Tuesday appointed its national vice-president Baijayant Jay Panda as the in-charge for the Delhi Assembly polls. Ghaziabad BJP MP Atul Garg will be the co-incharge.

"This time, the BJP has good chances of staging a comeback to power in Delhi after a long time. An early declaration of tickets will boost the momentum built on an aggressive campaign against Arvind Kejriwal -led AAP on corruption and governance failure issues," PTI quoted a senior Delhi BJP leader.

A final call on the time of candidate announcement is to be made by the national leadership, he said, adding that the BJP has not been in power in the capital since 1998 and is making strong efforts to inflict a political defeat on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

BJP was routed by the AAP back to back in 2015 and 2020 Delhi Assembly polls as it managed to win just three and eight seats respectively.

AAP Challenges BJP , Wants Early Elections In National Capital

 Incidentally, the ruling AAP and its national convener Arvind Kejriwal have challenged the BJP for an early election in Delhi to prove if they have support of the people.

While announcing his decision to step down as Delhi chief minister on September 15, Kejriwal had floated the idea of holding Delhi Assembly polls alongwith Jharkhand and Maharashtra .