While the Jat community is rooting for Verma, others snapping at his heels are Ashish Sood and Rekha Gupta. Also lurking around the ring are influential party MLAs Satish Upadhyay and Vijendra Gupta.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with BJP West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma. (File photo: PTI)
New Delhi: With Prime Minister Narendra Modi back from the US, lobbying for the post of Delhi Chief Minister has intensified. Reports indicate that pressure is mounting on the BJP's high command to consider "giant killer" Parvesh Verma for the coveted post.
Paving the way for the selection of the new Delhi CM candidate and the Cabinet, the BJP, according to insiders, is set to appoint central observers latest by Sunday to officially initiate the process of electing the leader of the legislative party on Monday.
Verma is considered a frontrunner as he not only defeated former Delhi CM and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal but also played a major role in securing victories in 11 of the 13 Jat-dominated constituencies in rural Delhi, also referred to as "Delhi Dehat".
A section within the BJP argues that since Verma is emerging as one of the leading Jat faces in the party, his elevation to the top post will help in tackling the farmers' unrest in western Uttar Pradesh and strengthen influence over the Jats in Haryana.
While the Jat community is rooting for Verma, others snapping at his heels are Ashish Sood and Rekha Gupta. Also lurking around the ring are influential party MLAs Satish Upadhyay and Vijendra Gupta.
The Jats constitute about nine per cent of Delhi’s electorate. Verma’s candidacy against Kejriwal had helped BJP win 11 out of 13 constituencies in the outer Delhi area. His credentials are further enhanced by his lineage as the son of former Delhi chief minister Sahib Singh Verma.
The Jats MLAs are strong contenders for a Cabinet berth, as out of 48 BJP MLAs, 10 are from the community, including Verma and Kailash Gahlot from Bijwasan. Speculation is rife that if not the top post, a Jat leader could be made deputy chief minister.
Further, the community in Delhi stressed that the importance of the Jats cannot be overstated, especially with 225 out of Delhi's 364 villages being Jat-majority. Key constituencies with substantial Jat populations include Narela (23 per cent), Bawana (20 per cent), Mundka (28 per cent), Najafgarh (25 per cent), Bijwasan (23 per cent), Nangloi Jat (20 per cent), Matiala (16 per cent) and Mehrauli (16 per cent) highlighting their electoral significance.
The closely-knit Jats decided to support the BJP after holding their own mahapanchayat in which representatives from all the villages of Delhi took part and broadly voted en masse.
Ahead of the crucial meeting on Sunday, the BJP is holding hectic parleys almost every day.
Notably, the BJP will appoint two central observers by Sunday who may oversee the election of the leader of the legislative party. The two central observers may include one Union minister and one senior party leader who could also be a chief minister of a BJP-ruled state.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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