New Delhi:

BJP rushed to placate the outgoing MLA from Karawal Nagar after the ticket from his current seat was given to Kapil Mishra. Mohan Singh Bisht was then given a ticket from Mustafabad in the third list of candidates released on Sunday, ahead of the February 5 Delhi Assembly election.

Mr Bisht, who has won all except one assembly election from Karawal Nagar since 1998, had earlier said, “The BJP thinks they will field anyone and he will win. This is a big mistake. You have challenged the ‘samaj’ (his Uttarakhandi community), not Mohan Singh Bisht. The BJP will lose at least 8-10 seats because of this decision, including Karawal Nagar, Burari, Mustafabad and Gokalpuri.”

Later, Mr Bisht expressed confidence that he would win the Mustafabad seat for the BJP. “I met the national president and things were ironed out. I have assured that I will contest from Mustafabad and win the seat for the party,” Bisht told PTI. The MLA said he and the BJP had considerable support in Mustafabad and he has already attended two public meetings there.

Another protest at the Delhi BJP office voiced resentment over the candidate fielded from Tughlakabad. “Vikram Bidhuri Tum Sangharsh Karo; Modi Se Bair Nahi, Rohtas Teri Khair Nahi,” the protesters, including mostly youngsters, chanted as the party leaders tried to pacify them. In the second list of BJP candidates, Rohtas Bidhuri was fielded from the Tughlakabad seat. 

A similar protest was also held by some party workers outside the Delhi BJP office against Mehrauli candidate Gajainder Yadav after the announcement of the first list of candidates earlier this month.

Mr Bisht is the only candidate announced as part of the third list of BJP candidates for the Delhi polls. In the first and second lists, 29 candidates each were announced. So far, the BJP has announced 59 candidates.

Elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly are scheduled on February 5, the counting of votes for which will be held on February 8. The elections will see the Aam Aadmi Party looking to retain power for the third consecutive term, despite many of its leaders being tainted by various cases. The BJP, out of power in Delhi since 1998, is making all-out efforts to return to the helm.

New Delhi:

Delhi BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht has slammed the party’s decision to field colleague Kapil Mishra from his seat for the upcoming polls, saying they have made a “big mistake”. The BJP named Mr Mishra as its candidate from Karawal Nagar yesterday, replacing Mr Bisht who had won the 2020 elections against the AAP’s Durgesh Pathak. Mr Bisht, who has won all except one assembly election from here since 1998, has asserted he won’t move to another seat and will file his nomination from Karawal Nagar.

“The BJP thinks they will field anyone and he will win. This is a big mistake. Only time will tell what will happen in Burari, Karawal Nagar, Ghonda, Seelampur, Gokalpuri, and Nand Nagri seats. I will not contest from any other seat. I will file my nomination from Karawal Nagar seat before January 17,” the veteran politician told news agency ANI.

Read: Former Chief Minister’s Son, Ex AAP Minister On BJP’s 2nd List For Delhi Polls

Mr Mishra, however, has predicted a big victory and said, “The people of Karawal Nagar are excited and we will register a big win here. There is a wave of transformation in Delhi. BJP is going to form the government here.”

In the 2015 elections, Mr Mishra had contested from the Karawal Nagar seat on an AAP ticket and defeated Mr Bisht. He went on to join the AAP cabinet, but it was short-lived. He was dropped as a minister and suspended from the party in 2017 after he accused senior AAP leaders of corruption.

Mr Mishra joined the BJP in 2019 ahead of the elections and shot to the headlines after referring to anti-citizenship law protest sites as “mini Pakistans”. He had even issued an ultimatum to the Delhi Police to clear the protest sites in Jaffrabad and Chandbagh or face consequences.

The BJP is vying to dethrone the AAP from power in the national capital where the assembly elections will be held on February 5. The votes will be counted on February 8.

New Delhi:

With less than a month to go for the Delhi Assembly elections, the BJP has released its second list of 29 candidates. The list includes Delhi BJP Vice President Kapil Mishra – a former MLA who was earlier with the AAP – who has been fielded from the Karawal Nagar constituency, and former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana’s son Harsh Khurana.

BJP leader Karnail Singh will contest against AAP’s former minister Satyendar Jain from Shakur Basti. Parvesh Verma, who is the son of former Delhi chief minister Sahib Singh Verma, had been named in the party’s first list. 

Only one sitting MLA – Mohan Singh Bisht – has been dropped from Karawal Nagar, probably to accommodate Mr Mishra, who represented the constituency earlier, when he was with the AAP. Mr Mishra joined the BJP in 2019 and made headlines a year later after referring to sites where protests were taking place against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) as “mini-Pakistans”. He had also issued an ultimatum to the Delhi Police to clear anti-CAA protesters from Jaffrabad and Chandbagh or face the consequences.

Neelam Krishan Pahalwan, who was elected as the BJP councillor from the Dichaon Kalan ward with the highest number of votes, will contest from Najafgarh, which was the constituency of former Delhi minister and recent BJP entrant Kailash Gahlot. The former AAP leader featured in the first list and will be contesting from Bijwasan. 

The BJP has named five women in the second list, taking its number of women candidates to seven so far.

With Saturday’s list, the party has now named candidates for 58 of Delhi’s 70 seats. The first list included the names of Parvesh Verma, former MP Ramesh Bidhuri and former Congress leader and minister Arvinder Singh Lovely.