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New Delhi: With months to go for the Delhi assembly elections, the RSS has raised concerns over the functioning of the BJP’s national capital unit, under the leadership of MP Manoj Tiwari, saying it could end up “losing an election that the party can easily win”.

According to a senior RSS functionary, not only the Sangh but a number of Delhi leaders and workers are also upset by the way the state unit has been functioning.

“Tiwari doesn’t have Sangathan (organisational post) experience but he has been needlessly interfering in the functioning of the Sangathan,” the functionary said. “When he was brought to the state unit, the idea was this will take care of the in-fighting as an outsider was being given charge and it will garner Purvanchali votes too. However, not much seems to have happened.”

The Delhi BJP’s general secretary-organisation (Sangathan) is senior leader Siddharthan who has his roots in the RSS.

According to sources, a section of the RSS was also displeased by Tiwari’s induction of dancer Sapna Chaudhary into the state unit. “You can’t run a party like an orchestra. You can’t win elections by singing. He (Tiwari) has to reach out to people,” said a BJP leader. “Most Delhi BJP presidents used to sit daily for at least an hour in the party office but he’s simply not accessible. The state unit needs to take all leaders on board and then devise a strategy but everyone here is left to fend for themselves.”

“If they want to win Delhi elections they need to put the state unit in order,” said another RSS functionary. “Workers are completely demotivated.”

Infighting, calls for change

Another BJP leader said the state unit has too many leaders staking claim to power, which “has made it directionless” and only increased in-fighting. Some of the leaders are now planning to raise the issue with the central leadership while asking for a new Delhi BJP president.

Tiwari’s three-year tenure ends in November and according to the BJP constitution, he can be appointed or elected for one more term. He was appointed the Delhi BJP chief on 30 November, 2016.

Also read: Behind Manoj Tiwari’s rise in Delhi, growing clout of the Purvanchali migrant vote

The state unit will soon start the process to elect its new president by the end of November and senior party leader and former MLA Pawan Sharma has been appointed convenor of the organisational elections along with Bhola Nath Vij.

With the Delhi assembly elections just around the corner, however, a section also believes the timing to replace Tiwari might not be right. “There is also talk in the party that a number of MPs and other leaders are displeased because the state unit is not keeping them in the loop,” the leader said.

The party has been out of power in Delhi for over two decades now and is hoping to make a comeback after its massive victory in the recent Lok Sabha polls. Union minister Prakash Javadekar has been appointed as the election in-charge for Delhi.

Also read: BJP’s Manoj Tiwari is a cardboard warrior trying hard to prove he too has a 56-inch chest

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