Jaipur, Aug. 30 -- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress are keeping their civic poll candidates under wraps until the eleventh hour, with both parties planning to hand symbols directly to authorised nominees in contentious wards to prevent disgruntled ticket aspirants from rebelling or filing nominations as independents, according to leaders of both the parties. The strategy assumes significance as nominations close on Monday. Although both parties have almost completed their selection exercises, candidates in dispute-prone wards are likely to be informed privately instead of being named in publicly released lists. BJP tickets for civic bodies in the Jaipur and Jodhpur divisions were reportedly finalised following discussions that continued until late Saturday evening. Candidate-selection meetings for the Bikaner, Kota, Udaipur and Bharatpur divisions were held on Thursday and Friday. However, people aware of the matter said the BJP may not release a consolidated list of candidates. Instead, authorised candidates could be called to district party offices and handed election symbols directly. A party office-bearer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said civic body in-charges had been sent to divisions after internal surveys were completed, with blank authorisation forms signed by the BJP state president. The district president and the concerned MLA will be informed by email, once confirmed. The Congress, however, has started releasing its candidate lists while adopting a similar strategy in wards where competing claims and local factionalism could trigger rebellion. In several contentious wards, the party plans to deliver symbols directly to the selected candidates or submit authorisation forms to the returning officers without publicly announcing the nominees. Party leaders say that after three days of deliberations, the Congress has prepared panels containing three prospective candidates for each ward. State Congress president Govind Singh Dotasara said the party had received more than 60,000 applications for tickets across 309 civic bodies by August 28. According to Dotasara, 78% of the applicants are below 50, while more than 53% fall in the 21-40 age group. Over 7,500 applicants belong to Generation Z, and women account for more than 30% of those seeking tickets. BJP state president Madan Rathore dismissed the Congress's figures, accusing the opposition party of "building castles in the air". Senior BJP leader Rakesh Bhati, husband of Pali Municipal Council chairperson Rekha Bhati, joined the Congress ahead of the civic elections, dealing a setback to the ruling party in Pali, the home district of BJP state president Madan Rathore. Bhati has served as a councillor in Pali for five consecutive terms and has also held the post of BJP district general secretary. His move is expected to strengthen the Congress in the first civic elections being held after the Pali Municipal Council was upgraded to a municipal corporation....