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Journalism of Courage
NEW DELHI, January 12: Madan Lal Khurana will contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Sadar constituency. This was the only surprise on the BJP candidates8217; list for the Lok Sabha seats in Delhi which was announced today.
S.P. Ratawal will contest from Karol Bagh, K.L. Sharma from Outer Delhi, Sushma Swaraj from South Delhi, Jagmohan from New Delhi and Lal Behari Tewari from East Delhi. The candidate for the Chandni Chowk constituency is yet to be finalised.
Secondly, even after entering the Lok Sabha he would still be in the race for the post of Delhi Chief Minister.
It may be recalled that in 1993 Khurana who was the sitting MP from South Delhi resigned to contest the Delhi Assembly elections and became theChief MInister.
On the other hand, the Sahib Singh faction believes that Khurana8217;s candidature from Sadar has effectively brought an end to his tenure in Delhi. It is felt that the only reason why he was brought in at Sadar was to improve the BJP8217;s chances against the possible Congress candidate Jagdish Tytler.
When asked about his candidature, Khurana said, 8220;I was consulted by both Lal Krishna Advani and Atal Behari Vajpayee regarding this seat and I agreed to it.8221;
Asked about the possibility of his return as Delhi Chief Minister, Khurana he said, 8220;The bigger issue right now is that Vajpayee should be the next Prime Minister.8221;
Sahib Singh, on the choice of candidate for Sadar said, 8220;I did not suggest Khurana8217;s name. But my best wishes are with him and now I am sure we will win all the seven seats in the Capital.8221;
The unseating of Vijay Goel, the sitting MP from Sadar, Khurana has managed to deal a blow to Sahib Singh. Goel now is only left with the option of contesting from Chandni Chowk, where he will be pitted against four-time winner and veteran Congress candidate Jai Prakash Aggarwal.
Asked about the changes in his own prospects, Vijay Goel said, 8220;I believe whatever the high command has decided is right.8221;
The issue of the candidate for Chandni Chowk may take some time as the earlier candidate J.K. Jain might not be considered, after his recent questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in the Jain hawala case.
Another name doing the rounds for the Chandni Chowk seat is that of Shanti Desai who is the chairman of the standing committee of the Delhi Municipal Council.
