CHANDIGARH/ROHTAK/PANIPAT: BJP 's core committee called an emergency meeting on Friday in New Delhi as senior BJP politicians, including former ministers, MLAs and other party seniors, continued to fume at not finding a place in the list of candidates for the Haryana assembly polls or feared that they would be dropped.
The meeting is learned to have been attended by Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Lok Sabha MP Biplab Deb, organisation secretary Phanindranath Sharma, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini and state BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli. Though resentment in the party was discussed, sources privy to the outcome ruled out the possibility of alteration of the candidate list on this account.
Later on Friday evening CM Saini told reporters there would be no change in candidates declared by BJP. He said everyone desires to get a ticket "but the lotus flower is one and can be given to only one. It is natural for ticket-seekers to be angry. But they will be persuaded."
BJP may accommodate deprived candidates in other constituencies
On Wednesday, BJP's central parliamentary board released its first list, of 67 candidates, for the 90-member Haryana assembly and dropped three sitting ministers, nine MLAs and other seniors and former ministers, including Bishambar Balmiki and Ranjit Singh Chautala. BJP Mahila Morcha office-bearer Latika Sharma, from Kalka, too, was dropped.
Sources said that during the meeting, a strategy was formed to deal with the situation arising out of resentment among deprived ticket aspirants and measures to be taken, including counselling. "There is very little scope of alteration in the list, unless any exceptionally high situation arises. However, there is a possibility of adjusting those deprived in other constituencies as we have 23 constituencies where candidates have to be finalised," a senior BJP functionary privy to the development said.
Winnability was the sole criteria in picking candidates. All this has been done on the basis of rigorous exercises and surveys and meetings at various levels, hence there seems to be little scope for alteration, a politician said.
Prominent among those who expressed surprise and made dissenting noises over the candidate selection were former minister Ram Bilas Sharma and his supporters, Karnal former mayor Renu Gupta, and former minister Kavita Jain and her husband Rajeev Jain in Sonipat.
In a related development, former minister Karan Dev Kamboj attacked BJP, while Ratia MLA Lakshman Napa, along with hundreds of supporters, joined Congress in New Delhi. Napa did not receive a ticket and BJP picked former MP Sunita Duggal from that seat.
Former BJP MLA Naresh Kaushik, who was denied a party ticket, broke down in front of supporters in Bahadurgarh, in Haryana's Jhajjar district, on Friday.
The meeting is learned to have been attended by Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Lok Sabha MP Biplab Deb, organisation secretary Phanindranath Sharma, Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini and state BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli. Though resentment in the party was discussed, sources privy to the outcome ruled out the possibility of alteration of the candidate list on this account.
Later on Friday evening CM Saini told reporters there would be no change in candidates declared by BJP. He said everyone desires to get a ticket "but the lotus flower is one and can be given to only one. It is natural for ticket-seekers to be angry. But they will be persuaded."
BJP may accommodate deprived candidates in other constituencies
On Wednesday, BJP's central parliamentary board released its first list, of 67 candidates, for the 90-member Haryana assembly and dropped three sitting ministers, nine MLAs and other seniors and former ministers, including Bishambar Balmiki and Ranjit Singh Chautala. BJP Mahila Morcha office-bearer Latika Sharma, from Kalka, too, was dropped.
Sources said that during the meeting, a strategy was formed to deal with the situation arising out of resentment among deprived ticket aspirants and measures to be taken, including counselling. "There is very little scope of alteration in the list, unless any exceptionally high situation arises. However, there is a possibility of adjusting those deprived in other constituencies as we have 23 constituencies where candidates have to be finalised," a senior BJP functionary privy to the development said.
Winnability was the sole criteria in picking candidates. All this has been done on the basis of rigorous exercises and surveys and meetings at various levels, hence there seems to be little scope for alteration, a politician said.
Prominent among those who expressed surprise and made dissenting noises over the candidate selection were former minister Ram Bilas Sharma and his supporters, Karnal former mayor Renu Gupta, and former minister Kavita Jain and her husband Rajeev Jain in Sonipat.
In a related development, former minister Karan Dev Kamboj attacked BJP, while Ratia MLA Lakshman Napa, along with hundreds of supporters, joined Congress in New Delhi. Napa did not receive a ticket and BJP picked former MP Sunita Duggal from that seat.
Former BJP MLA Naresh Kaushik, who was denied a party ticket, broke down in front of supporters in Bahadurgarh, in Haryana's Jhajjar district, on Friday.
