The Delhi BJP office-bearers are running around like headless chicken and no one knows who calls the shots. The names of Assembly poll candidates were announced very tardily, without a single meeting of the central election committee.
Jan 26, 2025 07:35 IST First published on: Jan 26, 2025 at 07:35 IST
On paper, it would appear that the BJP has an edge in the Delhi Assembly poll, what with the Congress cutting into the AAP’s vote share, and Arvind Kejriwal’s declining popularity and tarnished image. If the BJP fails to capitalise on its advantages and loses the Delhi Assembly yet again, it will have only itself to blame. The Delhi BJP office-bearers are running around like headless chicken and no one knows who calls the shots. The names of Assembly poll candidates were announced very tardily, without a single meeting of the central election committee. Delhi election in-charge Jay Panda seems to be a silent spectator. Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva’s word counts for very little. Though Sachdeva had announced a grand parivartan padyatra on December 8, and the posters and banners prepared, the march never happened. Party president J P Nadda is busy with his ministry. Only national general secretary B L Santosh is available to respond to queries.
Although people from UP and Bihar constitute around 25% of Delhi’s electorate, they are inadequately represented in the BJP candidate selections. To top it off, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla made a flippant remark about a Purvanchali politician. Although BJP MP Manoj Tiwari objected immediately, Poonawalla took his time to apologise. The BJP has rushed in PM Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath at the eleventh hour to salvage the situation.
Lutyens’ misfits
The poor choice of some BJP candidates indicates the leadership is out of sync with the Capital’s electorate. A glaring example of putting a square peg in a round hole is fielding Parvesh Verma, son of the late CM Sahib Singh Verma, from the New Delhi constituency against Arvind Kejriwal. The BJP assumed that Verma, because of his lineage, would be a strong contender against the AAP leader. While Verma may be a winner in outer rural Delhi, which has a high Jat population, he is a bit of a misfit in Lutyens’ Delhi and with the Khan Market folk.
At a recent RWA meet with Verma in a posh colony, a voter politely expressed misgivings about the BJP’s minority policies. Verma took offence, dubbed the questioner an AAP plant and suggested he be removed. The shocked gentry complained to the association president that they had not come to the tea to be insulted. In middle-class Kalkaji, BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri was like a bull in a china shop with his outrageous remarks. He provided his shrewd rival Atishi a perfect pretext to play the victim card by commenting on her elderly, ailing father. Bidhuri annoyed prospective voters by threatening not to help sort out electricity bill glitches if they voted against the BJP.
Son rise after sunset?
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is a rare politician who until now has kept his only son, Nishant Kumar, an engineering graduate from Birla Institute of Technology, Ranchi, out of politics and the limelight. In fact, few in the state are aware of what Nishant does for a living. He once claimed to be spiritually inclined. Political circles were abuzz when Nishant made a rare public appearance with his father last week and opened up with the media praising both Nitish and his grandfather, a freedom fighter. The BJP suspects the JD(U) plans to project Nishant as Nitish’s successor since the Bihar CM’s star is declining, given Nitish’s inappropriate utterances recently. In a clear hint, state Development Minister Shravan Kumar talked about the need for youth to carry forward the party’s development agenda.
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All not well
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Instead of proclaiming that all is well, Goa’s politicians should stop supporting increased violations of land use and vandalism of the state’s fragile ecosystem. A recent example is a mysterious construction on the banks of the Chapora river, just 200 metres from Morjim beach, which is famed for its turtle nesting. The work in progress appears to be the prelude for a restaurant along the river bank . Local grapevine claims the husband of a Bollywood actor has a stake in the project. A prominent former MP from north India, who is a next-door neighbour, has complained to numerous authorities about the blatant violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), to no avail.
