Chandigarh, January 13: The selection of the candidate for the Mayor’s post has once again posed a big challenge for the city BJP as councillors expressed divergent views before in-charge of the party affairs in the city Prabhat Jha, who held a one-on-one meeting with them to seek their views regarding possible candidates.
Jha, along with Sanjay Tandon, city BJP president, and Kirron Kher, MP, spent over three hours at the party office in Sector 33 today and asked the councillors about their choice from among the four councillors eligible for the post — Bharat Kumar, Rajesh Kalia, Satish Kainth and Farmila.
Satya Pal Jain, a former MP and senior leader of the party, was not invited to the meeting, which gave an indication of a “new alignment” in the party.
Sources said while there was unanimity in the Kher and Tandon groups on the name of Rajesh Kalia, many councillors expressed their views in favour of Satish Kainth and Bharat Kumar. Having witnessed a revolt from councillors last year after the announcement of the candidate for the Mayor’s post, the party has adopted a cautious approach this time.
The party in-charge has met all councillors before the announcement so that no one can complain of not being taken in the loop.
Asked, Satya Pal Jain said how could he attend the meeting when he was not invited. Jha said the views of all councillors had been received and these would be conveyed to the party high command and a final announcement would be made tomorrow after having a discussion with top leaders of the party in Delhi. The sources no unanimity had also been reached on the candidates for the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor.
The BJP has 20 of the 26 seats in the MC House. While the Congress has four votes, the SAD has one. Besides, there is one Independent councillor. The Congress has only one contender — Sheela Devi — for the post.
Mayor, councillor raise objections
Sources said Mayor Davesh Moudgil and councillor Anil Dubey had raised their objections when Jha was seeking the views of the councillors. Moudgil and Dubey requested Jha to listen to them individually without the presence of other senior leaders. Jha was accompanied by Kher and Tandon when the views were sought from the councillors regarding the possible candidates.
Satya Pal Jain not invited
Satya Pal Jain, a former MP and senior leader of the party, was not invited to the meeting, which gave an indication of a “new alignment” in the party. Asked, Satya Pal Jain said how could he attend the meeting when he was not invited.
