Delhi BJP will announce new team soon; women to get bigger roles

The rejig, party members say, has been long overdue. Former Delhi BJP president and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari’s tenure—Tiwari was appointed the state chief in December 2016—was extended due to the assembly elections earlier this year and later due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

After the assembly election debacle early this year, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Delhi unit is now gearing up for the municipal polls in 2022. The party’s Delhi unit chief Adesh Gupta said that he will announce the new state team by the end of this month. Women party workers, Gupta said, will be given key positions, especially at the grassroot level—municipal wards (mandal) and districts.

Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta at a press conference.

The rejig, party members say, has been long overdue. Former Delhi BJP president and North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari’s tenure—Tiwari was appointed the state chief in December 2016—was extended due to the assembly elections earlier this year and later due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This time there was no election due to Covid-19. But we are in the process of finalising the team based on extensive discussions with party workers at all levels—from mandals to state and MPs. We will announce the new team by the end of this month. The team, which will lead the party into municipal elections, will be a mix of young and experienced people. This time, active women party workers will be given key roles such as mandal and district presidents,” Gupta said.

The biggest challenge for the BJP, which was limited to single-digit seats in the recent assembly elections, is to regain the lost ground. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won 62 seats while BJP got just eight seats in the elections held earlier this year.

While the BJP has been out of power in the Delhi assembly, the saffron party has been ruling the three civic bodies for 13 years. Despite strong anti-incumbency sentiments in 2017, the party won 184 seats, 46 seats more than it had won in 2012, in the three municipal elections.

Gupta said that the party will work hard to retain its hold over the corporations in the next elections. The party plans to start an aggressive campaign showcasing the work done by them in the last 13 years and also against the ruling AAP for stifling the corporations by not releasing funds on time.

“The three corporations have done a lot of work in sanitation. We have successfully lowered the heights of landfill sites. We aim to flatten the garbage mounds in the next few years. The Centre has helped us a lot. But the Delhi government has only made things worse for us. They have not released funds on time. We will go to people and highlight these issues,” he said.

With nearly one-and-a-half-years left for the corporation elections, BJP says that it has enough time to complete all the pending projects. Gupta said that once the new team is in place, the party will start the work for municipal elections.

BJP attacks AAP on job portal

Meanwhile, the BJP on Monday hit out at the Delhi government on its initiative for providing job-seekers with employment. The BJP alleged that the ruling party had started a similar initiative two years ago on which it spent ₹34.41 crore.

“Two years ago, the party started an employment scheme which failed. The Kejriwal government had spent ₹34. 41 crore on the scheme, but only 334 people were employed,” Gupta said.

Gupta said that the portal is yet another attempt to misguide people. “It is being claimed that the job portal has more than 9 lakh vacancies and has 8.64 lakh applicants. The government should tell us how many people have got jobs through the portal so far,” he said.