A day after the BJP dropped its sitting Karawal Nagar MLA Mohan Singh Bisht, who has represented the seat five times, for Kapil Mishra in its second list for the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, Bisht was back in the running on Sunday — albeit from a different seat.
The party released its third candidate list on Sunday, which featured just Bisht’s name. He will be contesting from Mustafabad.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Bisht said, “The party’s leadership kindly acknowledged that I am the most senior MLA that it has in Delhi… I was the MLA of Mustafabad from 1998 to 2008 when the Karawal Nagar constituency was formed. The people have come out on the streets in my support (after the announcement of his name)… I’m sure this seat will be the first among those the BJP will win.”
After the BJP’s second list on Saturday, which saw some major changes, those who had been denied a ticket protested outside its party office at Pandit Pant Marg. Bisht was then convinced by its national state leadership that his being accommodated on subsequent lists was “a matter of time”, according to a senior leader.
Sources said Bisht was replaced in Karawal Nagar based on party surveys, which exhibited Mishra’s “hold on the substantial Purvanchali population”, making him a better choice. Bisht was defeated by Mishra, who was then in the AAP, in 2015.
“On the other hand, more than 60% of the Mustafabad seat, including its significant Pahadi population, was part of the Karawal Nagar Assembly before delimitation in 2008; Mohan ji is still immensely popular in those areas,” a senior Delhi BJP leader said.
“He was reassured that he is one of the tallest leaders that the party has in the city and it will throw its weight behind him in Mustafabad as much as it will do so for Mishra in Karawal Nagar, after which he (Bisht) is said to have agreed to follow whatever responsibility the party would hand him,” another leader said.
Meanwhile, a group of protesters from Tughlakabad in South Delhi also held a dharna at the gate of the Delhi BJP office. While the party fielded Rohtas Bidhuri from the seat, former South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri’s relative Vikram Bidhuri was denied a ticket. He had lost to AAP’s Sahi Ram Pehelwan in the 2020 polls. The protesters chanted “Vikram Bidhuri Tum Sangharsh Karo” and “Modi Se Bair Nahi, Rohtas Teri Khair Nahi” outside the office.
A similar protest was also held by some party workers outside the Delhi BJP office against Mehrauli candidate Gajaindar Yadav. (Inputs from PTI)
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