BJP picks councillor as chief of Delhi unit

The BJP was reduced to just eight of the 70 seats in the Delhi assembly elections earlier this year as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, swept to power for a second term

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday removed popular actor-turned-politician Manoj Tiwari as its Delhi unit chief after three-and-a-half years at the helm, replacing the Lok Sabka MP from North East Delhi with Adesh Kumar Gupta, a councillor from West Patel Nagar.

The appointment to the top job of a councillor was also seen as an indication that the BJP is preparing ground for the 2022 Delhi municipal corporation (MCD) elections. (Adesh Gupta/Twitter)

The BJP was reduced to just eight of the 70 seats in the Delhi assembly elections earlier this year as the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, swept to power for a second term.

Tiwari is a Bhojpuri actor who holds sway in the Purvanchali community which the BJP was trying to woo, while Gupta is from the Baniya trading community considered a part of the BJP’s core supporters. The appointment to the top job of a councillor was also seen as an indication that the BJP is preparing ground for the 2022 Delhi municipal corporation (MCD) elections.

The 51-year-old Gupta, who started his political career with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), has risen through the ranks, and was elected the Mayor of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation in 2018. He was office secretary in Delhi BJP in 2012, and is currently the member of north corporation’s standing committee.

Gupta said that his immediate focus will be to raise the problems faced by Delhi resident during the Covid-19 pandemic. “The Delhi government has not been able to provide essential services to people whether it is ration or medical facility to people. We will raise these issues and expose the government. As far as the state unit is concerned, we will work towards strengthening it. I’m thankful to the party for giving me this opportunity,” said Gupta.

A senior Delhi BJP leader said on condition of anonymity that the biggest challenge for Gupta will be strengthening the state unit after the February 2020 assembly elections defeat, and added that an organisational overhaul was expected soon.

Tiwari thanked his party colleagues and the people of Delhi for their support during his stint as the Delhi BJP chief and congratulated Gupta on his appointment. “I will always be grateful the love and support I got from the all workers, office bearers, and people of Delhi... If I made some mistakes, knowingly or unknowingly, then please forgive me for them. My heartiest congratulations to new state chief,” Tiwari tweeted in Hindi.

The decision to appoint Tiwari in a bid to woo Purvanchal voters, who now plays a decisive role in Delhi politics, had benefitted the BJP in the 2017 municipal elections, which it won for the third consecutive time despite anti-incumbency. The BJP also won all seven Delhi seats in the last 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“This is a routine appointment, which was due for long. The appointment couldn’t be done earlier due to elections in Delhi followed by riots and them the Covid-19 crisis. But now the party has started appointing new state chief,” a second BJP leader said.

“The decision to appoint a Baniya indicates that the party wants to keep its core support base intact. Moreover, the next elections in Delhi is of municipal corporations in 2022. Gupta will be helpful in ensuring party’s success,” said a third Delhi BJP leader on condition of anonymity.

This is not the first time the party has appointed a councillor as its state chief. The party appointed Satish Upadhyay, a one-time councillor from Malviya Nagar, as the state unit chief in 2014, before Tiwari took over two years later.

Sanjay Kumar, director at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, said, “There are no elections in the recent future. Adesh Gupta has risen from the ranks unlike Tiwari. It seems the party wanted someone who knowns the organisation well. He has been in the part for several years. The BJP decision to project a Purvanchali face didn’t really help the party to make a dent in the community in the recent assembly elections. A lot of migrant population, including from Purvanchal areas, has gone back home.”