The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to lose one member in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, reducing its seats in the Lower House from eight to seven in the coming days.
Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Leader of the Opposition and BJP member of Badarpur state assembly who won the Lok Sabha election from South Delhi constituency, is set to resign early next week and take up his seat in the Lok Sabha.
Government sources said that given the timetable for the Delhi Assembly elections in early 2025, a by-election to the Badarpur assembly seat he represents is unlikely to be held.
“The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, during which the nominated MPs take oath as MPs, has been convened from June 24 to July 3 for the confirmation of the newly elected MPs. Bidhuri will have to resign as Chief Secretary of the Delhi Assembly before the House sitting begins,” a senior BJP leader said.
“As per legislative rules, for a by-election to be necessary, there must be a period of more than six months between the date a seat in a state assembly becomes vacant and the announcement of state assembly elections, but this condition is unlikely to be met in this case,” the government official said.
Six of the BJP’s sitting MPs in the Lok Sabha represent assembly constituencies falling under the Trans-Yamuna region – Lakshmi Nagar MP Abhay Varma, Vishwas Nagar MP Om Prakash Sharma, Gandhi Nagar MP Anil Kumar Bajpai, Lotus Nagar MP Jitender Mahajan, Gonda MP Ajay Mahawal and Karawal Nagar MP Mohan Singh Bisht.
According to BJP sources, the chances of being re-selected for the post seem to be tilted in favour of BJP’s Rohini MP Vijender Gupta, who was the Delhi Assembly LOP before Bidhuri.
“After Bidhuri’s resignation, the process of selecting his successor from among seven BJP MPs will begin. The front-runners for the post include Gupta, Bisht and Mahawal,” a BJP source said.
“While Bisht is the party’s senior most MP in the Lok Sabha, Gupta is the only state MP representing a region outside East Delhi and Northeast Delhi. This will have a major impact on who the Bharatiya Janata Party national leadership chooses for the post,” the source added.
© Indian Express Ltd.
First uploaded: 17 Jun 2024 00:24 IST
