Former Amethi MP and BJP leader Smriti Irani has been active in the party’s activities in Delhi for the past several days and is participating in them with great enthusiasm. She is continuously attending the programs related to the party’s membership campaign and is instilling enthusiasm among the workers. After which, many speculations have started about her possible role in local politics, and seeing her activism, there is an internal uproar among the local leaders of the party.
Former Union Minister Smriti Irani was born and brought up in Delhi. Party insiders also claimed that Irani has bought a house in South Delhi, indicating her further involvement in the activities of the city unit. She also contested her first Lok Sabha election in 2004 from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk seat.
Regarding Smriti Irani’s participation in the programs related to the party’s membership campaign which started from September 2, BJP leaders say that she has been entrusted with the responsibility of monitoring the membership campaign in 7 out of 14 district units of Delhi BJP. That is why she did a three-day organizational tour of Delhi BJP under the membership campaign and attended programs in Naveen Shahdara, Karol Bagh and New Delhi and addressed party workers and supporters.
Talking about this, a senior BJP leader said that ‘these developments have come at a time when a section of party leaders is insisting on putting forward such a face who can lead the Delhi Assembly elections by giving a tough fight to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his led Aam Aadmi Party.’
Explaining the reason for this, he further said that ‘in the 2020 assembly elections, when the BJP contested without declaring any face or any leader as its chief ministerial candidate, the party could win only 8 out of 70 seats, while the remaining seats were won by AAP.’
Talking about Smriti’s sudden activation in Delhi, another top leader of Delhi BJP said that ‘if in the coming weeks there is talk of contesting the Delhi Assembly elections with a chief ministerial candidate, then the question of finding a suitable leader for this responsibility will also naturally arise.’
According to him, ‘In such a situation, along with Irani, other leaders like MPs Manoj Tiwari and Bansuri Swaraj, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdev and former West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma can be potential contenders for this role.’ He said that ‘the unity of the entire party behind one leader will give a message of unity and will also streamline the campaign.’
The BJP had contested the 2015 assembly elections by projecting Kiran Bedi as the chief ministerial candidate, but the party failed miserably in that election. He said, ‘Some leaders believe that projecting a CM face for the elections was not a good idea. There is still a debate on this.’
The BJP leader said the national leadership is aware of the matter and may take a decision on it later. He also said that if Kejriwal comes out and gets involved in political activities, the BJP’s task will become even more difficult.
Party leaders said that if Aam Aadmi Party chief Kejriwal, who is in judicial custody in Tihar jail in the liquor scam case, gets bail, the debate on the chief ministerial candidate may intensify in the coming days. Let us tell you that the Supreme Court will give its decision on Kejriwal’s bail plea on Friday.