Nadda roadshow in bypoll-bound Rajinder Nagar, BJP heavyweights throw hat in the ring

Nadda said there was a time when BJP had only two MPs in Parliament and the opposition would make fun by saying “hum do humare do”, but today it has become the largest party in the world.

The Congress does not have an MP in the Northeast states, while 12 states have a BJP government and 18 an NDA government, he said.

“Any election, whether it is Lok Sabha, state or municipal body, we are elected. We have to take it forward,” he told the crowd.

Shankar Road, through which the procession passed, was decked with BJP flags and balloons with party workers in saffron-coloured caps marching amidst chants hailing the party leaders and of Jai Shri Ram.

According to sources, BJP leaders have started making moves to secure a ticket from the Rajinder Nagar seat.

In the fray, sources said, are five heavyweights — national spokesperson R P Singh, state president Adesh Gupta, spokesperson Harish Khurana, former state general secretary Rajesh Bhatia, and current vice president of the Delhi BJP Rajan Tewari.

Singh had won the seat in 2013 but lost two consecutive elections in 2015 and 2020. “It is for the party to decide. But the party’s decision is expected to take into consideration the work we had done during the pandemic,” he said. “There is a slogan in the area – 24 ghante, 7 din, R P Singh.”

The by-election is significant as it would most likely be held before the MCD polls, said a senior BJP leader. “If we lose, the AAP will use that to say the BJP has lost support on the ground in Delhi and attribute it to the MCD polls being delayed,” he said.

Rajesh Bhatia said, “If the party gives me a chance, I will contest as I am confident of the work I had done as a councillor and party cadre in the area. I am connected to all people here.”

Denying that he has any interest in contesting, Gupta said, “My duty is to organise the campaign and help others win the poll.”

The BJP is upbeat about its chances as the last two by-elections have made the public apprehensive about candidates who vacate their seat, said another leader. “In Rajouri Garden bypolls, one of the main reasons the AAP lost was because their candidate Jarnail Singh quit and went to Punjab. In Bawana, then AAP MLA Ved Parkash resigned and joined the BJP and fought on a BJP ticket in the bypolls and lost,” he said.