It's Goel vs Vardhan to lead BJP in Delhi polls

Ahead of the Assembly polls in Delhi, two senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are striving to attract the attention of the central party leadership.

BJP Rajya Sabha member Vijay Goel and Union Minister for Health Harsh Vardhan are in the race to lead the party in the elections and are trying to impress upon the leadership that they could win the polls, according to a party insider.

While Goel, who was close to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpaye, was going aggressive against the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and was trying to pull all the strings to get the hot seat, his public image didn't match the present Chief Minister, said a senior leader.

Party leaders claimed, Goel had been trying hard to get the attention of the 'top leadership' by his campaigns against single-use plastics, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to discard them.

He also launched a campaign against the Kejriwal government on power and water rates.

However, a party leader said, Harsh Vardhan's persona and clean image had made him favourite of people and workers, and top choice for the leadership, who could match Kejriwal's high-pitch campaign.

As both the leaders and Kejriwal belonged to the same community, the BJP introduced Manoj Tiwari to tap voters from eastern UP and Bihar.

Harsh Vardhan, considered close to the ruling dispensation, has been repeated in the Union ministry under Modi, but Goyal was dropped.

In the last Assembly polls, both were sidelined and former top cop Kiran Bedi was brought in for leading the campaign. But she lost badly.IANS