Modi’s elevation may affect fortunes of city leaders

With the leaders here sensing some hope,the race for the ticket was witnessed heating up in the party over the past few weeks.

Senior BJP leader Satya Pal Jain who has twice been the MP from Chandigarh is considered close to L K Advani.

With Advani finding himself sidelined in the party,it could cause problems for Jain who has contested against Pawan Bansal five times.

The party leaders close to Jain however claim that the BJP has won the election in the city only when he contested. It is also claimed that after he was denied a ticket in 1999 that the fortunes of the party declined and the Lok Sabha elections were never won by BJP even though he contested the elections in 2004 and 2009. The Congress has won the last three elections with Pawan Bansal being the city’s MP since then.

The meeting of the party at Goa witnessed party president Sanjay Tandon sharing some time with Narendra Modi.

The Tandon camp claims that the party leadership though respecting seniors is likely to give the younger lot a chance to contest.

Meanwhile,senior party leader Harmohan Dhawan is already claiming to be a contender for the ticket.

Dhawan has been holding public meetings and taking up issues pertaining to the city.

The name of actor and BJP leader Kirron Kher has also been doing the rounds for the party’s ticket. It is being speculated that giving a ticket to her would ensure that the various factions within the party would unite if she is given the ticket. However,the local leaders are of the opinion that an ‘outsider’ might not be acceptable to the city residents.