Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national general secretary Saroj Pandey, who has been appointed a central observer for its affairs in Delhi, met with the eight BJP legislators that the party will send to the Delhi Assembly, on Saturday evening.
Inaugural session
The objective of the meeting, which took place at the party’s State headquarters, was to choose the Leader of Opposition on the heels of the Delhi Assembly’s three-day inaugural session which will commence on Monday.
“Rohini MLA Vijender Gupta, who retained his seat with a significant margin, is expected to be chosen once again as the Leader of Opposition given both his seniority in the party as well as the significance of his win. But another senior leader, Mohan Singh Bisht, who won from Karawal Nagar, cannot be ruled out,” a party insider claimed.
Mr. Gupta, who led the BJP’s four Opposition MLAs in the Delhi Assembly during the previous five-year term of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, secured 62,174 votes or 53.67% of the vote share.
His closest competitor, the Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajesh Nama Bansiwala, got 49,536 votes or 42.75% of the vote share, translating to a victory margin of 12,648 votes for the former Delhi BJP chief.
“His [Mr. Gupta’s] closest competitor in terms of votes, vote share, winning margin and seniority in the party is Mohan Singh Bisht who has been associated with the BJP for decades and has only lost one election — in 2015 — against his name,” said a party source.
Mr. Bisht secured 96,721 votes or 50.59% of the vote share against 88,498 votes or 46.29% of the vote share in favour of AAP’s Durgesh Pathak on the Karawal Nagar Assembly seat.
“However, the party is of the view that Mr. Gupta’s win was one of the most uphill tasks. The party’s victory in most other seats located in East or North-East Delhi was due to a pro-BJP wave for which he should be rewarded,” the source said further.
The meeting on Saturday evening, however, remained inconclusive with party sources stating that the feedback received by Ms.Pandey from the eight BJP MLAs would be discussed with the party’s seven MPs prior to taking a decision.
This process may continue till Sunday with the party likely to announce its decision latest by Sunday evening, the source said.
