Delhi BJP calls for 'CM face' for upcoming polls

New Delh: Ahead of the February assembly election, a section of the Delhi BJP has been advocating for putting up a party face to challenge the Aam Aadmi Party led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

In the 2020 assembly election, the BJP contested against AAP without a leader as the CM face of the party. In the election, the BJP was routed by the AAP, which emerged victorious on 62 of the 70 seats in the assembly.

"The debate over the issue has already begun with several senior leaders thinking that the BJP will benefit if it goes to poll with a face to challenge Kejriwal and AAP. They have already conveyed their sentiments to the national leaders in this regard," said a top leader of Delhi BJP. Other leaders proposed several names who could be flagbearers of the party's agenda. "It could be anyone of the prominent leaders of the party like the MPs Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Bansuri Swaraj or Manoj Tiwari, or state president Virendra Sachdeva, former MP Parvesh Verma or Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Vijender Gupta," said another senior Delhi BJP leader.

The BJP fought the 2015 Delhi Assembly polls with Kiran Bedi as its Chief Ministerial candidate but failed miserably, a Delhi BJP leader opposed to the idea pointed out. Not only Bedi lost from Krishna Nagar seat, but the party also was "crushed" by the AAP, which won 67 of 70 seats. According to the section, the debate is still open and the national leadership will take a decision later on.