New Delhi

Malhotra promises to make Delhi a world-class city

Photo: R.V. Moorthy

BJP Chief Ministerial candidate Vijay Kumar Malhotra flashes the victory sign after filing his nomination papers for the Greater Kailash seat in New Delhi on Saturday. Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Sushma Swaraj, O.P. Chautala and Arun Jaitley look on.

NEW DELHI: Looking resplendent with vermillion on his head and a saffron scarf strung round his neck, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Chief Ministerial candidate for Delhi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, filed his nomination papers for the Delhi Assembly election from Greater Kailash on Saturday in the presence of a large number of leaders of the BJP and its NDA allies, Shiromani Akali Dal and Indian National Lok Dal.

Prof. Malhotra signed the papers before the Returning Officer at Jamnagar House on Shahjahan Road and thereafter declared that “the BJP would secure a two-thirds majority in the Assembly, just the way it had swept the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections and the Delhi Cantonment Board elections”.

He also promised to make Delhi a world-class city through development works in a couple of years.

There was a lot of rush and fanfare at Jamnagar House as a large number of BJP workers had descended much before Prof. Malhotra’s arrival accompanied by senior party leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Vijay Goel and Delhi BJP president Harsh Vardhan.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was present along with his son and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, and the Indian National Lok Dal president and former Haryana Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala. While in Delhi the BJP has allied with the Akali Dal and given it four Assembly seats , in Haryana it has joined hands with the INLD.

The senior Badal used the opportunity to appeal to Sikhs in Delhi to vote for the BJP-Akali combine. He said “a true Sikh will never support the Congress” and expressed confidence that the coalition would form the next government in Delhi.

Mr. Chautala also expressed confidence that Prof. Malhotra would be the next Chief Minister of Delhi.

For Prof. Malhotra, the day began with a prayer and a yagna at his residencebefore they left for Jamnagar House.

Prof. Malhotra said that during this past decade that Sheila Dikshit had ruled Delhi, the governance had deteriorated. “The BJP would now ensure that Delhi becomes the best administered and most prosperous State in the world,” he said, adding that his main task would be to try and secure full-fledged Statehood for Delhi.

As for some “recent surveys” by television channels predicting a record third term for the Congress in Delhi, he said they should awaken the party workers out of complacency and prompt them to work harder. On what he would do to make things better for the Capital’s citizens, the veteran of many electoral battles said he would focus on improving transport by bringing in a unified plan that would cover the Delhi Metro and the Ring Railway and also involve construction of “sky trams” where the Metro cannot go. Besides augmenting and improving water and power supply, he said, he would also work towards cleaning of the Yamuna and providing permanent housing to the poor .

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