BJP shortlists three each for seven LS seats

New Delhi: Delhi BJP's election committee on Friday shortlisted three names each for the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, amid protests by party members over celebrities joining the organisation for tickets ahead of polls, party leaders said.

The list, which was finalised at a meeting of the state unit's election committee, does not include the name of former cricketer Gautam Gambhir, whose name was making rounds as a possible candidate from the New Delhi seat after he joined the BJP, said a leader who attended the meeting.

"All the seven sitting party MPs' names have been included in the list, which will be sent to the Central Election Committee for final selection of candidates," he said. Some other Delhi BJP leaders who attended the meeting claimed "objections were raised over celebrities joining the BJP for Lok Sabha tickets and demanded priority for dedicated leaders and workers during ticket distribution".

The meeting chaired by Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari was also attended by Union minister and Lok Sabha incharge of the unit Nirmala Sitharaman and co-in-charge Jaibhan Singh Pawaiya. From the New Delhi seat, besides sitting MP Meenakshi Lekhi, Delhi BJP in-charge and national vice-president Shyam Jaju, and Delhi BJP general secretary Rajesh Bhatia have been shortlisted, they said.

For the Chandni Chowk seat, names of sitting MP and Union minister Harsh Vardhan, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta and Sudhanshu Mittal have been selected. MP Mahesih Girri, Aman Sinha and Delhi BJP MLA OP Sharma have been shortlisted from East Delhi, they said.

The name of Tiwari, who is a sitting MP, is in the list of probables from North East Delhi seat. From West Delhi, sitting MP Parvesh Verma, Kamaljeet Sehrawat and Pawan Sharma's names have been shortlisted. For South Delhi, names of sitting MP Ramesh Bidhuri, Ram Veer Bidhuri and Brham Singh Tanwar have been selected, while Udit Raj (MP), Ashok Pradhan and Anita Arya have been shortlisted from the North West reserved seat, they said.