Thursday, October 24, 2013

BJP’s face in Delhi

At last, the BJP president Rajnath Singh announced the name of Dr. Harshavardhan as the party’s Chief Ministerial candidate for Delhi, which goes to poll on December 4. BJP made Vijay Goel the Delhi party unit president in February and since then it was in the air that he would most likely be the party’s chief ministerial candidate assembly elections. Goel himself considered as the face of Delhi in the coming elections. He posed himself against Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. But as his style of functioning and track record caused discontentment among the Delhi BJP leaders, the party realized that it might missed the bus if it made Goel as the Chief Ministerial candidate. Vijay Goel also has no support from party’s doting parent the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh, which matters most in the BJP. And that is why BJP chose Dr. Harshavardhan over Goel for its face in Delhi assembly elections. As BJP is the main opposition party in Delhi and it is fighting to oust Congress Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit from power on the issues of increasing corruption and price rise, its previous record in power and presently in MCD can not be considered as above board. But as far as corruption, infighting and groupism in party are concerned, Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel's credential is not unquestioned. This year’s Delhi assembly elections assume special significance. This is because for the first time the contest is going to be triangular with the entry of the newly founded political outfit Aam Aadmi Party led by former bureaucrat-turned social activist Arvind Kejriwal. The AAP has decided the issues of corruption and price rise in this year’s elections in Delhi. It is posing challenge to both the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP in the same way. It is equally cutting into the vote banks of both the parties. It has gone from strength to strength in its yearlong life. It is holding both Congress and the BJP equally corrupt. BJP considers that AAP takes away its votes and makes its path of defeating the ruling Congress in Delhi very tough. As Harshavardhan is known for honesty and integrity and favourite choice of RSS, he is considered by the party as most suitable anti-dote for Arvind Kejriwal’s campaign against rampant corruption in Sheila Dikshit govt. APP has already described Dr. Harshavardhan as Dr. Manmohan Singh of Congress to be made bulwark against BJP’s corrupt practices like Congress. Harshavardhan is also a veteran organizer and also known for starting anti-polio campaign when he was the Health Minister in Delhi Government in 1993-98. While Vijay Goel is neither enjoying clean image in Delhi nor has he the quality of carrying all sections in the party together.

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