Mayor’s poll: BJP to finalise candidate in a day or two

Mukesh Tandon

Tribune News Service

Panipat, December 1

Finally, eight women family members of BJP leaders are in the race to contest the election to the mayoral post on the BJP symbol in Panipat. The local municipal corporation elections are scheduled for December 16 and there are around 100 aspirants, including 40 women, for the councillors’ posts in 26 wards.

The BJP is set to finalise the mayoral candidate in a day or two while the Congress is waiting for the BJP to announce its candidate. Besides, the INLD is also looking for a mayoral candidate.

The election to the post of Mayor, reserved for women of the Backward Class (BC) category in Panipat, will be held directly for the first time. The total number of voters are 328,259, including 150,258 women.

In the BJP, there are eight women ticket aspirants, namely Kusum Bhatt, wife of former councillor Dushyant Bhatt; Komal Saini, daughter-in-law of Ram Kumar Saini; Meenakshi Verma, wife of Praveen Verma; Avneet Kaur, daughter of former Mayor Bhupender Singh; Pooja Verma Gumber; Seema Verma, wife of Surender Verma; Renu Tanwar, daughter of Raghunath Tanwar Kashyap; and Kanta Nayak.

Though these women aspirants have no experience of politics, their male family members have prepared the political ground for them and now they are ready to have a go, said a senior BJP leader.

Kusum Bhatt, Renu Tanwar, Meenakshi Verma and Avneet Kaur are strong contenders for the mayoral post and the list of their names has been sent to the party leadership, said party sources.

It will be a tough task for the BJP to select the mayoral candidate with a clean image and winnability.

Pramod Vij, district president of the BJP, said, “We have invited claims of the party members who wish to contest the mayoral election and we have discussed the names of the aspirants in a meeting held under the chairmanship of Health Minister Anil Vij.

Besides, Ajay Gaur, party in charge of Panipat, also interacted with the ticket aspirants on Friday and sent a report to the party election committee, he added. The final candidate would be announced in a day or two.