The grand victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party after 32 years in the Delhi Assembly elections has triggered off speculation as to who would be the next Chief Minister of the national capital territory. The saffron brigade had not projected anyone for the coveted post and its win essentially implies that the selection of the next incumbent would be the sole prerogative of the Prime Minister, who has been given absolute credit by all the victorious candidates. However, for the sake of record, the motions will have to be gone through and the legislative party shall meet to elect a leader, as per the wishes of the top leadership.
Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, two-time MP and the person who vanquished Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi seat, is being portrayed as the frontrunner. An insignificant reason for him being seen as the potential CM is also because his result was amongst the first few outcomes which were officially notified and given that for most TV crews, his location was easily accessible.
Nevertheless, he is a strong contender given the fact that it was the Prime Minister himself, who had called him up, even before the BJP had announced its list, to contest from New Delhi against Kejriwal. Not many gave him a chance since he was a Jat face and there were political pundits, who were not willing to believe that he could beat the former CM. However, he did it in great style, and on the polling day itself, had informed his friends, that he was winning easily.
There is also speculation that one of the three Sikhs—Arvinder Singh Lovely, Manjinder Singh Sirsa and Tarvinder Singh Marwah may also be considered for the position. When Lovely had joined the BJP from the Congress, the first time over, Home Minister Amit Shah had stated that after Himanta Biswa Sharma, Lovely was the biggest catch by the BJP in any state.
The names of Vijender Gupta, former Delhi BJP chief and currently the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and, Mohan Singh Bisht, the man who won with the highest number of votes, are being mentioned in party circles as well. However, the BJP’s past practice has been to pick up a non-descript name and get him to hold the position, as was evident in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, where those who were in the reckoning were completely ignored by the leadership.
It is also said of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah that they prepare for the next round even before the first round is over. If this argument is to hold good and keeping in view the Bihar Assembly polls, which are next, the BJP may have a Poorvanchali face as the next CM. The party has won most of the seats dominated by Poorvanchali voters, once the main support base of the Aam Aadmi Party and therefore may use the opportunity for strategic importance.
In this context, Satish Upadhyaya, who won from Malviya Nagar and is a past BJP president or someone else could be considered. There was this talk of Manoj Tewari being roped in, but the party would not wish to have a by-election for Lok Sabha so soon when its own numbers are limited to 240 this time.
The BJP shall also use this great victory to further weaken the AAP and thus may try and entice some of the newly elected MLAs, primarily because the cadres are demoralized and Kejriwal is in no position to defend his turf.
The leadership has a choice range which is so vast that it can choose whoever it wishes to. Former CM Madan Lal Khurana’s son, Harish, who makes his electoral debut from Moti Nagar, can be a nominee for one of the ministerial berths. The problem with him as well as Parvesh is that giving them important positions could invite the allegation of the BJP encouraging dynastic politics.
Delhi needs a CM, who has a vision and can translate it into development. That someone should be the one who knows the city and has seen it evolve. The elections have been farcical in one sense that the elected government shall have to play second fiddle to the Centre, which would have its writ run through the office of the Lt. Governor.
Thus, it should not be surprising that it would be the Centre and the PMO, which would use its vision and assign a willing candidate to help in implementing it. The BJP would be very keen that some visible changes happen and that too fast. The cleaning of the Yamuna, would give a big boost to the image of the new government even if it would be done at the behest of the Centre.
The roads and the city’s infrastructure which has been crumbling needs a makeover as well and this shall have to be achieved at an express pace. In fact, the entire council of ministers would be handpicked by the leadership to ensure that all the promises that were made get implemented to regain the confidence of the people, who were left disillusioned due to the turf war between the Union government and the city dispensation. This dichotomy shall end.
The last time, the BJP was in power, it had the dubious distinction of having three chief ministers during its five-year term. Politics was in full play and Madan Lal Khurana, decidedly the best bet was kept away from the seat of power. Such mishaps cannot be allowed. Between us.