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Former Union minister Smriti Irani’s name has come up for discussion for the Greater Kailash Assembly seat within the BJP as the party finalises its candidates for the Delhi elections. The party has declared 59 of the 70 candidates for the polls so far, and is looking for a strong contender against Saurabh Bharadwaj, the AAP minister and the sitting Greater Kailash MLA.
With Bharadwaj seen as popular in the seat, the BJP has held several rounds of discussions on the GK seat. Sources said that Irani joins three other women leaders who are in contention for the constituency.
While Irani was not available for comment, sources close to the senior BJP leader who lost last year’s Lok Sabha polls rubbished the reports, saying she was not in the “race”. The other women leaders, however, are keen on the seat, sources said. Central leaders, however, have not yet made their stand clear, said a BJP leader.
Party insiders said that the Delhi unit sees Irani as a leader who may fill the gap in its ranks of a charismatic leader, especially to counter AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. Articulate and feisty, Irani proved her stripes by defeating Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from his family pocketborough of Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“The GK seat has emerged as a very important constituency during our poll discussions. The BJP’s Delhi election in-charge, Baijayant Panda, was himself deputed by the Central Election Committee last Friday to seek the assent of the candidates being considered, including a former Delhi MP,” a party source said.
The source added that on Monday, the Delhi Core Committee had a meeting lasting several hours with the senior leadership to finalise the remaining names, where a request was made by the state unit for a strong face like Irani’s. “The response was that this request will be considered.”
The other names being considered reportedly are Arti Mehra, a member of the BJP National Executive and a former mayor; Shikha Rai, a sitting councillor from the GK ward; and former Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi.
While Mehra is a resident of the constituency, Rai contested from GK on the BJP ticket in the 2020 Assembly elections, losing to Bharadwaj by more than 16,000 votes. Lekhi, on the other hand, is said to be more keen to contest from Delhi Cantonment.
“So, the Delhi leadership requested the national high command to consider Irani. But that is where the matter rests for the moment,” a senior leader said.
Bharadwaj is a three-time MLA from GK and one of the senior-most leaders of the AAP, holding several portfolios. The BJP has already fielded prominent leaders against other senior AAP faces, including former West Delhi MP and key Jat leader Parvesh Verma against Kejriwal in the New Delhi seat, and ex-South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri against Chief Minister Atishi in Kalkaji.
However, many BJP leaders advise caution, having burnt their hands with the last-minute declaration of former IPS officer Kiran Bedi as the party’s CM face in 2015.
“Parachuting a leader from the outside – irrespective of their popularity – may not be a very wise choice at this juncture when many sitting and former councillors have been given tickets on the basis of their work,” a senior leader said, cautioning that such a move could be disheartening for local workers and hence harm the party.
