Vijay Goel ‘returns’ to BJP office

A year after he was told by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that he would not be the party’s face in the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections, senior party leader Vijay Goel has put himself on posters that dot the walls outside his former office – Delhi BJP headquarters.

Bigger role

Party insiders said Mr. Goel could play a bigger role in the upcoming Assembly polls having attended two important meetings this week, one with party president Amit Shah himself.

“Mr. Goel is a Member of Parliament from Rajasthan, but his roots are in Delhi. The party is taking everyone along for the upcoming elections with the objective to win and has asked everyone to chip in,” said a senior Delhi BJP leader.

More involvement

Sources said that Mr. Shah had addressed Mr. Goel at Tuesday’s meeting asking him to be more involved in Delhi in the months leading up to the polls.

The blue posters call on the people to give a missed call to the specified number and become a member of the party. It features Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah on the top left corner and Mr. Goel and Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay on the bottom right corner.

Presumably, the posters have been put up by Mr. Goel’s supporters since they clearly indicate his office address, email, and twitter handle.

With the political scenario having undergone a transformation over the last year in Delhi, party sources said that Mr. Goel’s arrival on the scene was to help “quietly get the work done” of making sure the party was able to defeat its rival, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

In October 2013, the BJP was compelled to name its chief ministerial choice because the party leaders were being taunted by the Congress and the AAP for lack of courage to name its candidate fearing a backlash from the rank and file.

The party then ignored the claims made by Mr. Goel that his popularity was on par with the Congress’ Sheila Dikshit and banked on the “clean image” of Union Minister Harsh Vardhan as the AAP was fighting on the corruption plank.

Dr. Vardhan also replaced Mr. Goel as the Delhi BJP chief.