Jaitley not keen on being BJP candidate for Delhi CM

BANGALORE: As BJP gears for a string assembly elections, attention has been focused on the party's chief ministerial choice for Delhi with the name of senior leader Arun Jaitley doing the rounds and being seen by some quarters as an effective nominee to take on the Congress in the Capital.

Some BJP leaders have broached the subject with Jaitley who remains uninterested in the prospect, pointing out that he has never been involved in local politics and has no interest in relinquishing his key role in the party's central set-up. The lawyer is understood to have said that he feels more suited for the role as BJP strategist, while declining the overtures.

Jaitley's profile might tempt some in BJP to seek his projection as this would also overcome the factional tensions in the state unit between leaders like Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Goel and V K Malhotra. But it is also being pointed out that placing Jaitley in the poll fray is no guarantee that factionalism will end. In 1998, BJP's decision to make Sushma Swaraj CM just ahead of elections only resulted in sabotage by state leaders.

In any case, Jaitley's role as BJP's key campaign strategist would be important to the party ahead of next year's general elections which are in all likelihood expected to be hard fought. It has been suggested that Jaitley could lead the party in Delhi and then move to a Lok Sabha seat next year. So far, the former law minister does not seem interested. This argument is also somewhat fraught as such talk may damage the BJP and allow Congress to argue that there is no use voting for a leader who will not lead the city government. The projection could then backfire.

Senior BJP leaders like L K Advani and party chief Rajnath Singh feel that the proposal is worth considering. However, the issue for Advani is also whether Jaitley can be spared of his considerable central duties in the crucial run-up to next year's general elections in a situation when the Leader of Opposition is vying for the Prime Minister's job. Jaitley is an important interlocutor with BJP units of Madhya Pradesh, J&K, Bihar, UP and Karnataka and even Rajasthan.

A Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat, Jaitley is not averse to the idea of contesting a Lok Sabha seat from either Gujarat, Punjab or even Delhi, but he is clear in the mind about not limiting himself to being a state leader from the Capital. Jaitley has held several portfolios as Union minister in the NDA regime and been a core players in the party's organization.


Source : Times Of India