Date:27/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/27/stories/2008092760151200.htm

National

V.K. Malhotra is BJP’s chief ministerial candidate

Neena Vyas

V.K. Malhotra

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s South Delhi Member of Parliament, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, will be the party’s chief ministerial candidate, it was officially announced here on Friday.

The decision was taken at the party’s Parliamentary Board meeting chaired by President Rajnath Singh and announced by general secretary Arun Jaitley.

A former Chief Executive Councillor of Delhi from 1967 to 1972 — well before Delhi was given a full Assembly and statehood — Mr. Malhotra is now the party’s deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha.

He said he would give priority to providing water and electricity if the BJP were to win the elections expected later this year. His next priority would be to tackle pollution of the Yamuna and improve water and air quality. He said he would strive to ensure that the poorest families in Delhi were given basic amenities. The “national issue” that was acutely relevant to Delhi was security.

In a show of solidarity, the BJP had on the dais two other potential candidates for the coveted position — Harsh Vardhan, the party’s State unit chief, and Jagdish Mukhi, leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly — but yet another aspirant, Vijay Goel, was not present. The BJP is hoping that it will be able to manage internal rivalries.

Mr. Malhotra said his party was readying a “chargesheet” against the Shiela Dikshit government. He charged the Congress with “misrule” and said the BJP would make Delhi one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

The last BJP government in Delhi 10 years ago was headed by Sahib Singh Verma, who was replaced just ahead of the Assembly poll in 1998 by Sushma Swaraj. Mr. Verma’s “rule” led to the worst rout the BJP had faced in Delhi for decades, but after a 10-year gap the party is hoping to make gains.