Rohtak candidate not finalised, BJP mulling names for 4 seats

Ravinder Saini

Rohtak, March 19

Though the BJP has not yet announced its candidate for the Rohtak Lok Sabha seat, a poster of the outgoing MP, Dr Arvind Sharma, has gone viral on social media claiming that the party has re-nominated him as its candidate for Rohtak.

Other candidates not keen

• Names of Sharma, Baba Mastnath Matth’s mahant Baba Balak Nath, who is also the BJP MLA from Tizara (Rajasthan) and Actor Randeep Hooda were being discussed by the BJP for Rohtak
• “Randeep has refused to accept the offer of contesting the elections citing professional commitments while Baba Balak Nath is also reluctant to jump into the fray,” said a BJP leader

Arvind Sharma’s name to be finalised by party

We have not posted the poster on our social media handles. It will be posted only after the party announces Sharma’s name as its candidate from Rohtak. — Sunil Lakra, media-coordinator of Arvind Sharma

In the poster, Sharma whose picture is printed at the bottom, is expressing gratitude to PM Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP national president JP Nadda, state incharge Biplab Kumar Deb, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and former CM Manohar Lal, for fielding him again from Rohtak.

The names of Sharma, Baba Mastnath Matth’s mahant Baba Balak Nath, who is also the BJP MLA from Tizara (Rajasthan) and Bollywood Actor Randeep Hooda were being discussed by the BJP for Rohtak. “Randeep has refused to accept the offer of contesting the elections citing professional commitments while Baba Balak Nath is also reluctant to jump into the fray due to different reasons. In this situation, Sharma is the strong contender for the party ticket. However, new faces are also being explored. The party is not in a hurry as the polling is two months away,” said a senior BJP leader.Another BJP leader claimed the poster was posted by Sharma’s supporters on WhatsApp groups yesterday. “Though Sharma is at the forefront in the race for the party ticket, his candidature will be considered final after the official announcement in this respect. The party leaders at a meeting held in Delhi last evening discussed the prospective candidates for the four remaining seats, including Rohtak, Sonepat, Kurukshetra and Hisar,” he added.

Sunil Kumar, personal assistant of Arvind Sharma, told The Tribune that they were confident about Sharma’s re-nomination for the BJP ticket from Rohtak and an announcement in this respect would be made by the party soon.

Sunil Lakra, media-coordinator of Arvind Sharma, said the party workers had uploaded the poster on social media on the basis of the media reports that the name of Arvind Sharma had been finalised by the party for Rohtak. Neither the Congress nor the JJP and INLD have yet announced their candidates for Rohtak.