Sitting MP J. P. Agrawal on Tuesday emerged victorious with a comfortable margin in the “primary” held by the Congress party to choose the best candidate for the North-East Parliamentary constituency.
Mr. Agrawal defeated former MLA from Patel Nagar, Rajesh Lilothia, by a margin of over 200 votes. Mr. Lilothia managed only 44 of the 299 eligible votes polled, party leaders said.
Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh said Mr. Agrawal’s name would now be sent to the Central Election Committee which would take the final call in naming the party candidate. Apart from the North-East, primaries were also held in the New Delhi Parliamentary constituency where sitting MP Ajay Maken was elected unopposed as no other candidate had filed a nomination.
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Sources said the Delhi unit of the Congress has prepared the final panel of ticket probables which is likely to be discussed in the CEC meeting scheduled for Wednesday. “The panel has been prepared after consultations with the elected MLAs, councillors and district presidents. On the five seats where primaries were not held, the panel includes names of other applicants apart from the sitting MPs,” said a senior Congress leader.
Sources said there has been a growing demand from the party cadre for changing one or two faces. While the State unit had recommended repeating the sitting MPs, the central leadership had last week asked the Delhi unit to prepare a fresh list of ticket probables.