The Hindu : New Delhi News : `RSS help proving crucial in BJP candidate selection'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 11, 2007
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New Delhi

`RSS help proving crucial in BJP candidate selection'

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

POLL RUSH: Ticket seekers submitting their names for the forthcoming MCD elections to BJP leader Sahib Singh Verma at the party office in New Delhi on Saturday. Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

NEW DELHI: The power of the Sangh Parivar to regulate and discipline its cadre is proving to be a major blessing for the Bharatiya Janata Party while scrutinising and selecting candidates for the upcoming elections for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

Senior party leaders insist that rather than being a hindrance, the RSS role is proving to be a critical factor in identifying candidates. While the party had in February itself started the process of collecting information on various prospective candidates for all the 272 wards that will be up for election and asked its mandals to submit names of some short-listed candidates, it is now engaged in tallying this list with those prepared by various elected representatives and senior party leaders.

"The Members of Parliament, MLAs, senior Councillors and both Central and State party office-bearers have a say in the selection of candidates. Since the idea is to select candidates with the best chances of winning, we also want accountability to be fixed on those who are supporting the candidature of particular ticket-seekers,'' said a senior party functionary. It is in this process that the Sangh Parivar is playing a critical role. While the party plays the main role in scrutiny and selection of candidates, before the names are finalised they are discussed with the Sangh leadership to seek its opinion. BJP leaders insist the Sangh leadership is helping the party in deciding on the candidates by informing it about the role played by each of the ticket-seekers at the grassroots level and their popularity within the area party workers.

"This is important for us since an unpopular candidate would not be supported by party workers and would therefore in all probability end up on the losing side. This time selection of right candidates has also become more ticklish since due to reservation of wards for women, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Caste women, many genuine candidates are opting out of the race and instead wanting to field their relatives from the seats.''

No tickets to non-workers

"The party does not want non-workers to be given tickets. So while many candidates want their wives, sons or daughters-in-law to be given tickets, we are simply turning them away,'' said the party functionary, adding that here too the Sangh leadership was coming to their aid.

"When you tell them that the Sangh does not want tickets to go to family members who are not workers, it helps. People know that the Sangh wields a sort of veto power. People they want to kept out have to stay out.''

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