Sitting BJP MP from North West Delhi questions delay

NEW DELHI: The BJP MP from

North West Delhi

,

Udit Raj

, on Monday questioned the delay in declaring the party candidate from his parliamentary constituency.

In a press conference held at his residence at 8pm, when the party was supposed to declare candidates for North West Delhi but didn’t, Raj said he is the sole Dalit leader of BJP with national stature. In a series of tweets earlier in the day, he said he believed that BJP will not betray Dalits in the country.

“I dissolved my party to join BJP and contest from North West Delhi in the previous general elections. My performance has also been outstanding. I fail to understand why the party is still not clear on nominating me again from this seat,” the MP said.

Raj merged his Indian Justice Party (IJP) with BJP and contested the

Lok Sabha

election from North West Delhi in 2014. He claimed he had tried to contact party president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi about his nomination, but failed. “I have also spoken to Nitin Gadkari and Rajnath Singh and they have assured justice. I have, therefore, decided to wait till the final decision is taken,” the North West Delhi MP said.

BJP has announced its candidates for six parliamentary seats in Delhi except North West Delhi. Nomination process for the polls will conclude on Tuesday.

Raj said Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari had been telling him that he will have the ticket from his constituency. He also claimed to have contacted senior party leaders Nirmala Sitharaman and Arun Jaitley in this regard.

The BJP MP has been a vocal supporter of Dalit rights and had often taken views contrary to party line on occasions like Sabarimala and ‘Bharat Bandh’ called by Dalit organisations last year.