New Delhi: The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is grappling with an ugly bout of infighting just months ahead of assembly elections in the capital, ThePrint has learnt.
Much of this anger, multiple sources in the party said, is directed at Delhi BJP chief and MP Manoj Tiwari, a Bhojpuri actor who has emerged as one of the party’s most popular faces in the capital since he was inducted in 2013.
Signs of cracks in the unit came to light late last month after Ramesh Bidhuri, one of the party’s seven Delhi MPs, reportedly accused the local social media team of being “partial” and only promoting Tiwari, who took charge as Delhi BJP chief in 2016. ThePrint confirmed the incident with two BJP leaders.
A senior BJP leader suggested the resentment ran deeper, saying the state unit was yet to hold a meeting to discuss the power tariff waiver announced by the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
“Soon after the announcement, we should have held a meeting to decide on our own strategy, but nothing has happened so far,” the leader added. “This is our golden chance to win Delhi but the lackadaisical attitude is damaging us deeply.”
Another leader said the state unit had too many leaders staking claim to power, which “has made the unit directionless”.
“Bidhuri was completely right. The Delhi BJP is supposed to highlight the party’s work, not only that of a particular individual,” the leader added. “The state unit social media team only highlights Tiwari, so there are other leaders who have started doing their work independently.”
A third party source backed this claim, saying Rajya Sabha MP and former Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel had been holding a number of programmes for public outreach – a fact, the source added, that had irked Tiwari.
“Vijay Goel has held a number of programmes in the past at an individual level and the state unit remains in the dark,” said the leader. “But the fact is, he is one of the few who are doing something… Otherwise, nothing substantial is happening.”
There is also talk in the party that Tiwari’s fellow MPs from Delhi are displeased because the state unit is not keeping them in the loop.
“There are times when the state unit president is not accessible. He simply stops taking calls… The state unit needs to take all leaders on board and then devise a strategy but everyone here is left to fend for themselves,” said a BJP leader.
ThePrint made several attempts to speak to Tiwari for his side of the story but he could not be reached.
Also read: BJP’s unique stand on induction in poll-bound Delhi — AAP defectors not welcome
‘Internal issues being resolved’
The BJP has had a successful run at the parliamentary level in Delhi of late, wresting all of the capital’s seven seats in 2014 and 2019. However, the results have been mixed at the assembly level, with the party currently accounting for just three of the city’s 70 MLAs.
It emerged as the biggest player in the 2013 Delhi assembly election, winning 32 seats. However, debutant AAP, which secured 28 seats, formed the government with the outside support of the Congress’ eight MLAs.
The Kejriwal government proved short-lived, resigning 49 days into its term, after all the non-AAP MLAs, including a JD(U) legislator and an Independent, opposed his bid to introduce the Jan Lokpal Bill in the assembly.
In the election held just over a year later, the AAP was back in office with a stunning majority, winning 67 seats on the back of a campaign that promised subsidised electricity, among other things.
The BJP last held office in Delhi two decades ago, but many in the party see the 2020 election as their chance to stage a comeback, in light of the Congress’ almost complete decimation at the state level, and the AAP’s shrunken votebank and multiple high-profile exits.
Amid fears that the ongoing infighting may erode the advantage that landed the BJP’s candidates landslide victories in this general election, sources said a new state unit president could be elected by October, after the completion of the membership drive.
“There is a process that is followed… Once the membership drive is done, there are chances of a new state unit president taking over,” said a BJP leader.
However, Tiwari has his cheerleaders in the state unit, who claim that it was under his leadership that the BJP won all the seven seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections by huge margins, and hail his performance in the 2017 municipal elections too.
“He has kept AAP on its toes by reacting to all their schemes and it is important to keep the momentum going,” said a BJP leader. “As far as internal issues are concerned, they are being resolved.”
Also read: Even if Congress and AAP had joined hands, BJP would sweep Delhi
The views about Manoj Tiwari is 100% correct. He is unreachable person and arrogant character. He is more for limelight and follow big people. An opportunist guy. Better BJP get rid.of him sooner.