Vardhan for CM, Goel for Chandni Chowk
22 Aug 2013 11:48 PM GMT
Having made, now what they realise was a wrong appointment, the central leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party is at its wit’s end to salvage the situation in Delhi, which, coming winter, goes to the polls for the 70-member assembly.
For once party veteran Lal Krishna Advani, campaign committee chairman Narendra Modi, Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley are on the same page to project former Delhi health minister Harshvardhan as their chief ministerial candidate.
If resignation of Delhi election cell convener Sudhanshu Mittal is any indication, the announcement of Vardhan’s name is only a matter of time. ‘We are waiting for the state in-charge Nitin Gadkari to return to carry out the necessary changes,’ said a well placed source.
The leadership has conveyed to incumbent Delhi unit president Vijay Goel, who was appointed to the position four months back, to start preparations to contest from the Chandni Chowk constituency in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Goel represented this seat between 1998 and 2004. ‘Making him party candidate from Chandni Chowk is aimed at keeping Goel out from assembly polls,’ said a well-placed source.
While the decision to appoint Harshvardhan as the head of the campaign committee has been taken, its announcement was held back as Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as expressed the need for ‘clarity on chief ministerial candidate.’ Modi, sources said, has brought the leaders around to the view that making Harshvardhan campaign committee chief alone would not serve purpose unless there a ‘clear message to the voters that he was BJP’s alternative to chief minister Sheila Dikshit.’
A practicing doctor, Vardhan is credited with the introduction of Pulse Polio programme in the country, which eradicated the dreaded disease which had disabled a large number of children. ‘He has a clean image and he being a professional would appeal to the urban voters of the national Capital,’ said the source. Vardhan is also credited with reviving the party after the exit of towering leaders like Madan Lal Khurana and Sahib Singh Verma from the scene.
Under Vardhan’s presidentship BJP had regained Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2007 but he was denied the opportunity to lead the party during the 2009 assembly polls as at the last minute another veteran Vijay Kumar Malhotra was foisted as the chief ministerial candidate. BJP lost the assembly polls for a third-time in the row to the Dikshit-led Congress in 2009.
For once party veteran Lal Krishna Advani, campaign committee chairman Narendra Modi, Leaders of Opposition in Parliament Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley are on the same page to project former Delhi health minister Harshvardhan as their chief ministerial candidate.
If resignation of Delhi election cell convener Sudhanshu Mittal is any indication, the announcement of Vardhan’s name is only a matter of time. ‘We are waiting for the state in-charge Nitin Gadkari to return to carry out the necessary changes,’ said a well placed source.
The leadership has conveyed to incumbent Delhi unit president Vijay Goel, who was appointed to the position four months back, to start preparations to contest from the Chandni Chowk constituency in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. Goel represented this seat between 1998 and 2004. ‘Making him party candidate from Chandni Chowk is aimed at keeping Goel out from assembly polls,’ said a well-placed source.
While the decision to appoint Harshvardhan as the head of the campaign committee has been taken, its announcement was held back as Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as expressed the need for ‘clarity on chief ministerial candidate.’ Modi, sources said, has brought the leaders around to the view that making Harshvardhan campaign committee chief alone would not serve purpose unless there a ‘clear message to the voters that he was BJP’s alternative to chief minister Sheila Dikshit.’
A practicing doctor, Vardhan is credited with the introduction of Pulse Polio programme in the country, which eradicated the dreaded disease which had disabled a large number of children. ‘He has a clean image and he being a professional would appeal to the urban voters of the national Capital,’ said the source. Vardhan is also credited with reviving the party after the exit of towering leaders like Madan Lal Khurana and Sahib Singh Verma from the scene.
Under Vardhan’s presidentship BJP had regained Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 2007 but he was denied the opportunity to lead the party during the 2009 assembly polls as at the last minute another veteran Vijay Kumar Malhotra was foisted as the chief ministerial candidate. BJP lost the assembly polls for a third-time in the row to the Dikshit-led Congress in 2009.
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