BJP’s pick for Delhi CM will be from MLAs, not MPs: Rekha Gupta, Ashish Sood among frontrunners

Among the criteria being discussed to shortlist names are a “clean public image”, not being more than 60 years of age and “preference” for leaders whose rise and fall has been tied to BJP-RSS organisation in the Capital since they entered active politics.

A BJP leader confirmed that the Chief Minister’s post will go to a serving MLA rather than an MP. “The party leadership, however, hasn’t completely closed the door on including recent defectors like Arvinder Singh Lovely in the Cabinet,” a senior leader said.

Speaking to mediapersons on the sidelines of an event on Thursday, BJP national president J P Nadda said, “Selecting the Delhi CM will not be a tough call at all. It will be decided within 15 minutes when the party leadership meets.”

The selection process is expected to pick up pace after Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns from his foreign visit over the weekend, said sources.

Ashish Sood is among the top contenders for the CM’s post, sources said. A long-standing organisational man, he had served as councillor as well as Leader of the House in the erstwhile South MCD and was also the party Goa in-charge and J&K co-incharge.

Considered close to Nadda and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Sood won from Janakpuri by a margin of almost 19,000 votes this election. In 2020, he had lost the seat.

He was general secretary of the BJP youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), before being elevated as its national vice president. In 2008, he was appointed secretary of Delhi BJP and later general secretary, before being elected as a councillor in the then-SDMC.

According to sources in the BJP, what works in Sood’s favour is that he is one of Delhi BJP’s prominent Punjabi-speaking leaders and enjoys backing from the RSS. He is also perceived to be close to the BJP’s top leadership. His political journey began with ABVP before he joined the party ranks.

Another party leader said the CM post may also go to a woman. “The CM is most likely to be chosen from among women as well as Punjabi and Jat leaders. Right now, the party seems to be leaning towards making a Punjabi leader the CM.”

“Senior leaders with decades of legislative experience such as Vijender Gupta and Mohan Singh Bisht will be given significant responsibilities, most likely in the Delhi Assembly,” a source added.

Another senior leader considered to be in the running for the CM post is Rekha Gupta, an old RSS hand who joined the Sangh’s students wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, paving the way for her to be elected as DUSU president in the late 1990s.

In addition to being the secretary of BJYM’s Delhi unit, which she also served as the national secretary, Gupta has been elected as a councillor, general secretary of Delhi BJP’s Mahila Morcha and a member of the BJP’s National Executive.

Shikha Roy, a two-time BJP councillor from Greater Kailash, who hit headlines after she unfurled the Tricolour at Lal Chowk in Srinagar during a curfew in 2011, is also being considered as a significant frontrunner. She had unsuccessfully contested from Kasturba Nagar constituency in 2015 and Greater Kailash in the 2020 polls. In addition to serving as the Leader of the House, she was chairperson of the then SDMC Standing Committee and held organisational posts such as secretary, general secretary and vice-president of the Delhi BJP.

Satish Upadhyay, former Delhi BJP president and vice-chairperson of the New Delhi Municipal Council, is also being considered a frontrunner. He has served in organisational posts such as Delhi BJP vice-president and chairperson of the SDMC Standing Committee, among others.