Is Kumar Vishwas joining BJP?

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Speculations are rife about Kumar Vishwas joining the BJP bandwagon ahead of Delhi Assembly Election 2020. The poet-politician made a cryptic response to the buzz on Wednesday. Responding to a journalist, Vishwas said: "I am in Qatar (Doha) for an NRI summit. Shall I join from here, if you say? Set an alarm for this report and run it every week, why do you bother your fingers time and again."

Kumar Vishwas had unsuccessfully contested on a AAP ticket against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and BJP's Smriti Irani in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Later, Vishwas distanced himself from the party after differences emerged between him and the AAP leadership, particularly Arvind Kejriwal. 

In 2017, Kumar Vishwas was given the charge of Rajasthan ahead of assembly elections in the state but it was also taken away within a year. The party, however, said Vishwas was removed as he was "inactive for quite some time.

This is not the first time that the speculation has grown about the likelihood of his joining the BJP. There is a view that Vishwas is ideologically close to the party on certain issues and can be the answer to its search for a leader to take on Kejriwal in the national capital. There has been no official reaction from the BJP to these reports.

Delhi assembly polls are scheduled to be held on February 8.

During the last elections in 2015, the BJP had inducted former IPS officer Kiran Bedi- who was with Kejriwal during the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption stir- in the party and then projected her as its chief ministerial candidate. Her choice as the party's face, however, boomranged as the BJP lost badly and she was also defeated.