Even as contestants from different political formations rushed to file their nominations for the upcoming Delhi civic polls, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) probables complained of its "non serious attitude" towards them.
Not only was the party lagging behind in comparison to its political rivals in relation to declaring its list of candidates, the process, in fact, continued in instalments till as late as Monday afternoon.
The BJP declared its first list comprising 160 candidates on Sunday evening, delaying the declaration of candidates on over a 100 seats till as late as 1.30 pm on Monday afternoon even as those whose names had been struck off protested outside its office on Pant Marg.
The party attributed the delay to “important deliberations with the senior leadership” regarding candidates. The inclusion of former Congress leader Amrish Singh Gautam in the party was also pointed at as a reason for the delay.
"There was a lot of discussion and even confrontation between those deciding the names till as late as Monday afternoon and that led to the delay," said a leader.
Delhi Congress vice-president Chattar Singh said that the senior Mr. Gautam had wanted the party to field his son from a ward in the Kondli Assembly constituency in the upcoming municipal elections.
"We decided to give the ticket to a worker who has been with the party for years. This time, we made sure that those working on the ground were given an opportunity," he said.
