Delhi power crisis: Leaderless BJP state unit fails to put a political stamp

New Delhi: Although Union Power Minister Piyush Goel stepped in fast to tide over the power crisis at the National Capital, the shortage of electricity also brought to the fore of a rudderless BJP unit in Delhi. Had the Union minister not stepped in, the Centre would have been continuously at the receiving end of the relentless attack from the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, who exploited the situation well to gain some political advantage. The power adage also revealed that the BJP is far from prepared to face the Assembly polls in Delhi which may not be very far away. [caption id=“attachment_1569607” align=“alignleft” width=“220”]  Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. PTI[/caption] After former state unit chief Harsh Vardhan was promoted as the Union Health Minister, the party’s state unit continues to be without a leader. The consequences were visible when this week’s power outage hit the national capital, Delhi’s chief opposition party put up a zero show. While the Aam Aadmi Party despite quitting the government played its opposition card and somewhat managed to put things back in place after the initial stumble following its jarring result in the Lok Sabha election. The Congress, which has only eight MLAs in the Delhi assembly, did not leave the chance to play an opposition this week. But among all the rage and protest the silence in BJP Delhi was defeaning. According to sources in the party, the absence of Harsh Vardhan was sorely felt. The absence of former MLA, now MP of South Delhi Ramesh Bidhuri’s was also felt. “We could have done better in this situation. We played the role of a constructive opposition and people voted for us in large numbers in Delhi. Now I’m having to answer my constituents,” said a BJP MLA. However, the party tried to save the day by launching a scathing attack on the earlier Sheila Dikshit government which ruled Delhi for over 15 years. “It’s the consequences of the corruption in the Sheila Dikshit government. They were hand in glove with the discoms and committed innumerable scams,” said veteran BJP MLA Jagdish Mukhi. Mukhi also attacked the AAP for running away from responsibility. But another problem that the state unit of BJP is facing now is that it’s having to play an opposition in the national capital while there is a BJP government at the Centre with a hugely popular mandate. “Right now there is no elected government also in Delhi, so any protest would be a protest against the Centre,” said another leader of the Delhi BJP. Following the organisational vacancies, the party’s Delhi unit is fast tracking the process to look for a leader. However, according to sources, Satish Upadhyay, a long standing BJP man in Delhi may have been chosen to head the Delhi unit. Whoever becomes the Delhi BJP chief, there is a job right at the hand as the polls may not be very far away.