NewDelhi: Shortly after announcing that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would contest the 2020 Delhi Assembly election under the leadership of Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri retracted his statement by saying that the BJP is yet to decide its chief ministerial candidate for Delhi poll. Puri’s announcement, however, allowed ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to take a dig at the BJP claiming that the saffron party was finding it tough to field an opponent against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.
“The BJP is headed for victory in Delhi. The party has so far not nominated anyone for the post of Chief Minister in Delhi. Shri Manoj Tiwari is Delhi BJP chief. The party is working vigorously under his leadership. My earlier statement meant that the BJP would win the upcoming elections under his leadership with a huge margin,” Puri said.
AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh lapped up the opportunity and dubbed the BJP a “wedding procession without a groom”.
“So this means that you have no one against Kejriwal? Wedding procession without groom? Did your chief ministerial candidate leave the field within two hours or did the BJP not trust his talent?” Singh said in reply to Puri’s tweet.
In another tweet, he wrote, “Respected Hardeep Puri Ji, the people of Delhi want to know who is your CM candidate in front of Arvind Kejriwal Ji? You also mentioned Tiwari ji’s name and ran away from the field within 2 hours. Has the BJP given a walkover to Kejriwal due to the election?
It may be recalled that the BJP had fielded Dr Harsh Vardhan as its chief ministerial candidate during the 2013 assembly elections, whereas former IPS officer Kiran Bedi was its pick for Chief Minister’s post in 2015. In both elections, the party tasted defeat from the AAP, especially a crushing one in 2015 by bagging just three seats in the 70-member assembly.
Bureau Report
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