BJP announces Leader of House for all three civic bodies

The Delhi BJP today announced the names of Leaders of House in the three municipal corporations ruled by it, dropping the name of a councilor close to senior party leader and Union minister Vijay Goel.

The announcement fueled speculation of a rift between Goel and Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari as the latter announced Shikha Rai, Santosh Pal and Jayendra Dabas as leaders of South, East and North Delhi Municipal Corporations.

A senior party leader said that earlier name of Goel's close aide Jai Prakash was "finalised" along with Rai and Pal.

After winning the MCD polls in April, the party had finalised names of mayor and deputy mayor and also announced Shikha Rai, Jai Prakash and Santosh Pal as leaders of house.

"But their names were put on hold after the three participated in a felicitation function organised by Goayal," he said.

"The name of Jai Prakash was dropped as he is close to Goel," he said.

The tussle between Tiwari and Goel has been widely reported although the two have never acknowledged it openly.

With the massive mandate won by the BJP in the MCD polls, the race between the two as the "most important" party leader in Delhi has gone up as "better" results are expected in the next Assembly elections, party sources said.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)