Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel. Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel.

The BJP top brass been jolted by a threat of open rebellion by the Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel, who is learnt to have told senior leaders that he will not work for the party if Dr Harshvardhan is projected as the BJP's chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Delhi polls.Vijay Goel went into active damage control mode moments after reports emerged that the BJP is deciding to project Dr Harshvardhan as the party's face for the Delhi Assembly Elections. Vijay Goel is learnt to have personally called up senior leaders and spoken about the role he has played in galvanising the party cadre since being made Delhi state president in April this year.

Adopting an aggressive public posture, Vijay Goel called a press conference in the capital on Wednesday in which he declared, "The opinion polls projected me against Sheila Dikshit. Look at the results of the opinion polls. My party is ahead and so am I."



An opinion poll put out on Tuesday by research agency Nielsen for ABP News projected a hung house, with the BJP leading the race in Delhi. BJP was projected to bag 28 seats, while the Congress' tally was shown coming down to 22 seats from the current 42 seats in the 70 seat Assembly. The debutant Aam Aadmi Party was projected to open its account with an impressive 18 seats.



Vijay Goel said he had sent the results of all the opinion polls to Delhi poll in-charge Nitin Gadkari. "The decision (of projecting a CM candidate) will be taken by the public, party workers and the opinion polls. The parliamentary board will take a decision based on views of the public and the inputs of party workers."





Delhi BJp's new CM candidate Dr Harshvardhan Delhi BJp's new CM candidate Dr Harshvardhan

Several leaders in the BJP's parliamentary board are of the opinion that Dr Harshvardhan is a better bet as the party's CM candidate on account of his clean image and his credentials as a successful professional. These leaders believe that the reason the Aam Aadmi Party is generating so much buzz is because the BJP leadership in Delhi has failed to emerge as a convincing alternative to the Sheila Dikshit government.However, another section of the party is wary of the damage that Vijay Goel can cause if he goes into a sulk and refuses to actively support BJP candidates in the forthcoming elections. This section believes that with just seven weeks to go for the Delhi polls, it is now too late to change horses mid-way and a decision on projecting Dr Harshvardhan could backfire on the BJP.Vijay Goel is seen as being far more resourceful than Dr Harshvardhan who is known for his clean image but does not have the sort of command that Goel has over the party cadre in the state. Given the storm over the proposed appointment of Harshvardhan, Delhi BJP poll in-charge Nitin Gadkari put out a brief press note this afternoon in which he said, "The party has not yet taken a decision on projecting any leader for the post of Chief Minister for the Delhi polls. The decision on this issue will be taken by the party's parliamentary board."The first round of ticket allocation for the Delhi elections is scheduled for 20 October and the party is likely to take a decision on whether to project a chief ministerial candidate before that. Senior party leader Arun Jaitley is abroad at present and a decision is expected to be taken after his return.The Delhi Assembly Elections are also a matter of prestige for Narendra Modi who has recently been appointed the party's prime ministerial candidate for the next general elections. A setback in Delhi will be seen as a personal loss of face for Modi and the Gujarat Chief Minister is keen that the party put its best foot forward in the Delhi elections.The RSS, which is another important stakeholder in the BJP's decision making process, is of the view that the party should have a leader with a clean image as its chief ministerial candidate but the Sangh does not want infighting to mar the party's chances. Frentic efforts are now on to find a way of breaking the deadlock. With just over 45 days to go, time is fast running out for the BJP.

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