BJP faces infighting in Delhi unit ahead of MCD elections

The infighting among the BJP state leaders in Delhi is likely to significantly impact the chance of the party in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections that are scheduled for 4 December.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

This will be the first such election that is being held in Delhi after the erstwhile three corporations, NorthSouth-East, were merged into one by the Union government in May and the seats reduced to 250 from the earlier 272.

Present state president Aadesh Gupta and incharge of the party, Baijayant Panda, the two primary decision makers as far as Delhi BJP is concerned, are not on the same page on many issues. This has been attributed by party insiders to the difference of approach of the two leaders.

While Gupta takes into account local issues and decides on the basis of what will bring political benefit to him in the long run, Panda, an "outsider", takes calls while keeping the "larger" perspective in mind, which has led to divergence of views between the two multiple times.

On top of that, both Gupta and Panda have to also take care of the egos, wishes and desires of the seven Lok Sabha MPs while formulating strategies, all of whom consider themselves as more "influential" to both of them. This has many times led to clashes of expectations and fulfilment.

Earlier last week, Gupta was forced to withdraw the appointment order of six district presidents within hours of the same being circulated through the official media channels and issue a set of fresh names. There are 14 district president posts spread across seven Lok Sabha seats.