NEW DELHI, NOV 1: While the BJP is likely to go in for a major surgery in Rajasthan in deciding its candidates for the ensuing Assembly elections, despite its tall talk, it is likely to retain most of its sitting MLAs in Madhya Pradesh and Delhi.The party's Central Election Committee (CEC) begins its meeting tomorrow to finalise the lists of its candidates for the four states which go to elections later this month.While the CEC is tomorrow scheduled to go through the lists forwarded by the State Election Committees of the Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and the bypolls to the six Assembly seats across the country, it will finalise its candidates for Rajasthan and the byelection to the Bharuch Lok Sabha seat on Tuesday.The party will announce the list of its candidates for the Delhi Assembly polls on Wednesday. After consulting the mandal and district-level leaders, the State Election Committee, it is learnt, has already shortlisted the names of candidates for the 70 seats.According to a senior party leader,as many as 40 per cent of the sitting MLAs in Rajasthan were likely to be replaced by new candidates. ``The legislators who are likely to be dropped have either acquired a bad image over the last five years or are likely to lose if fielded again,'' he said, adding, ``With the contest in the state likely to be tough, the emphasis this time round will be on winnability. A lot of young leaders are likely to be nominated.''BJP spokesman M Venkaiah Naidu, while speaking to reporters earlier this week, had said that party was likely to adopt three criteria while decided its candidates for the Assembly polls. These included the candidate's loyalty to the party and ideology, his image and winnability.But said another leader: ``In Rajasthan, the emphasis will solely be on winnability. No other criterion is likely to be employed.''In Delhi, three MLAs have already opted out of the fray various reasons. They include Assembly Speaker Charti Lal Goel, Satish Chandra Khandelwal (Pahargunj) and Vasdev Kaptan(Chandni Chowk). Apart from them, at least five sitting MLAs are likely to be dropped owing to stiff opposition from the mandal and district level representatives.These include Chand Ram (Bawana), Ram Pal Karhana (Karawal Nagar), Master Balbir Singh (Seemapuri), Hari Kishan (Sadar Bazar) and Madan Lal Gaba (Vishwas Nagar). ``There are doubts about their winnability,'' said a local BJP leader, ``And most of them have also acquired a bad image.''Interestingly, the MLAs who are likely to face the axe belong to both Madan Lal Khurana and Sahib Singh Verma camps. While Gaba and Hari Kishan owe their loyalty to the Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister, the rest of them are known for their proximity to Verma.In Madhya Pradesh, the party is likely to employ the sitting-getting formula for most of the seats its holds at present. But here, it is facing a different problem that of leadership.A secret survey conducted recently on behalf of the party revealed interesting details. Union Minister of State forHuman Resource Development Uma Bharati emerged as the most popular candidate for the state Chief Minister's post in the case the BJP won the Assembly elections. She was followed by former chief minister Sunder Lal Patwa and Leader of the Opposition in State Assembly Vikram Verma.
