Delhi polls: BJP declares Harsh Vardhan as Delhi CM candidate

New Delhi: The BJP today put up a united face while announcing former Delhi minister Dr Harsh Vardhan as its chief ministerial candidate ending the two-week long party feud in the party state unit. Vijay Goel and V K Malhotra were called to line up behind Dr Harsh Vardhan, as party president Rajnath Singh and senior party leader L K Advani handed him bouquets. Harsh Vardhan dutifully touched the feet of Advani and senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi seeking their blessings. Announcing the selection of Harsh Vardhan, BJP president Rajnath Singh said, state BJP chief Vijay Goel has fully supported this decision, which was taken unanimously by the BJP central parliamentary board. "Vijay Goel had been renergizing the party in Delhi for the last eight to nine months, and his contribution cannot be ignored. I am sure BJP will return to power in Delhi", said Rajnath Singh. Senior BJP leader L K Advani while welcoming Harsh Vardhan, recalled the days of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, when the nascent party had to struggle to win seats in the municipal corporation and New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. Advani said: " The right decision are being taken not only for Delhi polls, but also for the Lok Sabha elections. I believe it will be 'kalyankari' (benevolent) and will lead to not only the victory of BJP, but also of India". Party workers exploded crackers outside the BJP office, even as the prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi rang up Harsh Vardhan and congratulated him.Harsh Vardhan has a clean image in Delhi politics and he has been elected to the Assembly four times. Vijay Goel had reportedly threatened to resign from the post of Delhi unit president when told about the likelihood of Harsh Vardhan being made the Chief Ministerial candidate. Goel had on Monday sought an early decision on the issue but remained non-committal on supporting Vardhan if the former health minister was named for the post. Goel had met top brass of BJP including Rajnath Singh, Narendra Modi and Sushma Swaraj on Sunday and expressed his serious opposition to Vardhan's candidature, arguing nearly 10 opinion polls had projected him as the most popular face for BJP's chief ministerial candidate. A number of Delhi BJP leaders have already conveyed to the party leadership that they should announce the candidature of Vardhan, saying he has wider acceptability among people, party leaders and workers. The internal squabbles in Delhi BJP over the issue have taken its toll on the party's campaign with a number of leaders reluctant to join the door-to-door campaign without a settlement of the leadership issue. A number of senior Delhi leaders conveyed to the central leadership that a decision on the issue must be announced at the earliest as the delay has affected the campaigning. Asked about the atmosphere in the party over the issue, Vardhan said, “Individuals and positions are not important. What is important is ideology and vision of the party.” He said there was no division in the party and that it was totally united.