With hardly 25 days left for Delhi to go to polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday saw a frenzy of activities. Senior Delhi BJP leaders, including party chief Satish Upadhyay, attended meetings at the BJP’s Ashoka Road headquarters to plan ahead.
With nominations coming to a close in a little over a week, the party is expected to announce its selection committee in a day or two, which will shortlist candidates for the 70 Assembly constituencies.
The BJP has been dragging its heels over announcing candidates unlike its main political rival, the Aam Aadmi Party, which has declared candidates for all 70 seats and has begun campaigning at the constituency level. The saffron party, however, did launch into poll mode in December when Members of Parliament held nukkad sabhas across the city.
Yet, it was not until this past Saturday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the star campaigner for the party here in Delhi, officially kick started the election campaign from Ramlila Maidan by targeting AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal. The party also took Monday’s victory in the Delhi Cantonment Board elections as a sign of a smooth majority in the Assembly elections scheduled for February 7.
In the coming days, the BJP will have to draw up its list of candidates, finding replacements for three legislators who went on to becomes MPs, and decide on whether it will announce a Chief Ministerial candidate ahead of polls. While Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan was the man chosen for this post ahead of 2013 Delhi polls, senior party leaders said that the party may fight without naming anyone for the prized post.
In 2013, the party banked on Dr. Vardhan’s “clean image” to take on Mr. Kejriwal, while this year, the party plans to spring a surprise, said sources. With President Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter expected to contest on a Congress ticket from Greater Kailash constituency, it is rumoured that the BJP will also field a heavyweight. The party is also, insiders said, scouting for a strong candidate to field against AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal from New Delhi seat.
