New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), on Monday, claimed that “strong infighting” within the Delhi BJP forced Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri to clarify that they have not finalised the chief ministerial candidate for the Assembly elections due early next year.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh asserted that his party will win more seats this time than it did in the 2015 Assembly polls.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari, however, accused AAP leaders of raising the issue of the chief ministerial candidate to divert attention from the “failures” of the Kejriwal government. He said that the Parliamentary board of BJP will decide who will be chief minister if the party wins the Assembly polls in Delhi.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh took a jibe at BJP for taking back the name of Manoj Tiwari as the chief ministerial candidate minutes after announcing it.
Mr Puri’s remark came a day after he said that he had no intention to run for the post of Delhi CM. He said that BJP has a well-defined leadership in Delhi and there are “people who have grown up in the city.”
When asked if he will run for Delhi chief minister’s post, Mr Puri told reporters, “I have no such intention. I was a bureaucrat and now I am a minister. There are several leaders in Delhi who are born and brought up here and are senior BJP leaders.”
Mr Singh said the taking back of the name also shows that there is infighting within BJP.
“There is a strong infighting within BJP and at least three to four people are in the race. BJP has no face to fight against Kejriwal,” he said.
He also said that before the elections, people should know who will be the chief minister.
“They (BJP) have accepted defeat. Contesting the elections is just a formality for BJP. AAP will break the record of 2015,” Mr Singh said.
Mr Puri, on Monday, said that people will judge AAP for its work and not for who is fighting against it.
He also said that the number of seats will be decided by the people who are suffering from polluted air and water and also the bad shape of the transport system.
He added that he wanted to tell Mr Kejriwal that the AAP is losing ground and people know about his reality now.
Mr Puri called the Delhi government “underperforming and non-performing” for implementing Central schemes in Delhi.
The Assembly polls in Delhi are due early next year.
