BJP Delhi president Manoj Tiwari defended the Delhi North East Lok Sabha seat he won in 2014 polls

BJP leader Manoj Tiwari today paid former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit a courtesy visit to enquire after her health, according to a report by news agency PTI that quoted BJP Delhi media co-convenor Neelkant Bakshi.

The two had a 20-minute meeting in which they "acknowledged that political rivals can have friendly and harmonious relations" and Mr Tiwari told his former rival that he had always treated her like his mother.

The former Bhojpuri movie star's concern for the former Chief Minister's ill-health comes after he dismissed her as a political rival, saying she was someone who has "become old now". His comments came in the middle of an attack on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi for fielding the veteran politician against him in the Delhi North East Lok Sabha seat.

"Rahul Gandhi took revenge against Sheila Dikshit by fielding her against me. She is 78 years old. She has become old now. Rahul Gandhi was angry with her and that is why this was done to her," he said.

Manoj Tiwari successfully defended his Delhi North East Lok Sabha seat against Sheila Dikshit and Dilip Pandey of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in this election, beating the veteran Congress leader by 3.66 lakh votes and the AAP candidate by nearly six lakh votes.

Sheila Dikshit's announcement as a candidate from the constituency had ruled out the possibility of a tie-up with the AAP.

She did lead the Congress to an improved showing in Delhi with its vote share going from 15.1 per cent in 2014 to 22.46 per cent in 2019. However, she could not prevent the party from slumping to an embarrassing defeat - the party failed to win even one of the seven seats on offer in Delhi, repeating its dismal showing from the 2014 election.

The magnitude of the defeat both in the capital and across the country prompted a rash of resignations from within the Congress, leading to pressure on party chief Rahul Gandhi to do the same.