<p>New Delhi, Jan 10 (PTI) The BJP’s Central Election Committee, which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met here on Friday to finalise the second list of party candidates for the Delhi Assembly polls.</p>
<p>The BJP’s first list of 29 candidates for the polls to the 70-member Delhi Assembly came out on January 4. It has fielded former MP Parvesh Verma from the New Delhi seat against ex-chief minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal.</p>
<p>The party has named another former MP, Ramesh Bidhuri, from Kalkaji, where Chief Minister and AAP candidate Atishi is in the fray.</p>
<p>Besides Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda joined the other members of the CEC in finalising the names of candidates.</p>
<p>After arriving at the BJP headquarters, Modi walked towards the media contingent covering the meeting to extend greetings for the New Year and upcoming festivals.</p>
<p>Shah and Nadda were earlier in the day closeted with Delhi BJP leaders to deliberate on the list of probable candidates and the party’s strategy.</p>
<p>The BJP is pulling out all stops to end the Aam Aadmi Party’s 10-year-old reign in the national capital.</p>
<p>Despite the party sweeping to victory in all seven Lok Sabha seats in three national elections since 2014, the AAP has maintained a stranglehold on power in the city in two consecutive assembly elections in 2015 and 2020.</p>
<p>Polling in the national capital will be held on February 5 and the votes will be counted on February 8. </p>
<h3><strong>BJP’s Jat leaders say Kejriwal’s reservation demand an ‘election gimmick’</strong></h3>
<p>AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal never raised the Jat reservation issue in 10 years of being in power in Delhi but is “doing politics” over it ahead of elections, BJP’s Jat leaders said on Friday, and called it an “election gimmick”.</p>
<p>“Merely writing a letter to the prime minister doesn’t grant reservation,” BJP MP Kamaljeet Sehrawat said responding to Kejriwal’s recent allegations that the saffron party had failed to include the Jat community in the Centre’s OBC list despite promising to do so.</p>
<p>Kejriwal on Thursday announced he has written to PM Modi, urging him to grant reservation to Delhi’s Jats, and accused the BJP of favouring Jats in Rajasthan while neglecting the community in Delhi.</p>
<p>In a press conference on Friday, Sehrawat said, “Those who are doing politics in the name of Jats have never raised their voice for them in the Vidhan Sabha. In the last 10 years, Kejriwal never raised this issue in Vidhan Sabha or proposed to grant reservation to Delhi’s Jats.” Kuljeet Singh Chahal, BJP leader and NDMC vice-chairman, slammed Kejriwal’s comments on the Jat reservation as an “election gimmick”.</p>
<p>”Jat reservation is just a political stunt because the AAP is on a ventilator, and that’s why they are resorting to such tactics,” Chahal said. “I am proud to be a Jat, and I was made the NDMC vice-chairman by the BJP.” Chahal said Kejriwal’s “sudden interest” in the Jat community is only because Jats in Delhi are now supporting the BJP. “Whenever Kejriwal gets caught in corruption cases, he uses these slogans to divert attention.” “If anyone has actually worked for Jats in this country, it is Narendra Modi. Why didn’t Kejriwal ask for Jat reservation in his 10 years in power?” he added.</p>
<p>Elections for the 70-member Delhi assembly are scheduled on February 5. Votes will be counted on February 8.</p>
<p><em><strong>(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)<br /></strong></em></p>
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