The last time the Bharatiya Janata Party won the Delhi Assembly polls was in 1993, and at that time Madan Lal Khurana, one of the tallest leaders of the capital had spearheaded its campaign. Khurana had quit office in February, 1996,to express solidarity with Lal Krishan Advani, who had been named in the Jain Diaries, which led to the big Hawala scandal that changed the politics of the country at that time. All those who were in the list got a reprieve from a High Court ruling and the former Chief Minister expected that he would be reinstated in place of Sahib Singh Verma, who had succeeded him. Unfortunately for him, internal BJP politics followed and Sushma Swaraj was made the Chief Minister in October, 1998 leaving Khurana sulking. The BJP’s top leadership of that time treated him unfairly and when he was asked to lead the campaign once again in 2003, deliberate and flawed ticket distribution by the Saffron Brigade ensured that Shiela Dikshit continued to be the Chief Minister.
Even though the BJP had lost, Khurana would have become an effective leader of Opposition, thus wielding enormous influence, but the position was denied to him, and instead he was made the Governor of Rajasthan, much against his wishes. The grapevine at that point was that Atal Behari Vajpayee and LK Advani, found Sheila to be more convenient, since the Khurana-Sahib Singh feud would have taken away a lot of their time. In any case, Khurana’s political innings was brought to an abrupt end and though many events followed subsequently, he was unable to make a comeback. After the BJP returned to power at the Centre in 2014, the Khurana family despite its great political record, continued to be on the sidelines. It is significant to state that Khurana was one politician who won more elections in the city than anybody else. He was victorious in 10 out of 11 polls, and the only time he lost was in 1984 following the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
I recall that I was in Times of India and when the counting of votes started for Delhi Sadar, his constituency, at the Ludlow Castle counting centre, Khurana led by 1500 votes from Moti Nagar/Kirti Nagar, his Assembly/Metropolitan Council despite the Congress wave. However, he conceded defeat and walked away. When asked why was he doing it despite his lead, he said that if in his own Metropolitan Council seat, he was winning by only 1500 votes and not 15000, as he would have wanted, how could he even think of winning in the remaining segments. Such was his calculation. The BJP has failed to win the Assembly polls and many believe that it was because of the unfair treatment to Khurana.
In any case, in the second list announced for the ongoing Assembly polls, Khurana’s second son, Harish has got the nomination from his father’s Moti Nagar seat, which for long was also represented by Subhash Sachdeva. Harish has a long way to go but he is likely to win and thus a Khurana maybe back in the Assembly. The former Chief Minister’s elder son, Vimal had predeceased him and the family choice this time was to push for a ticket for Harish, who is also the party spokesman. Interestingly, Sahib Singh Verma’s son, Parvesh is also contesting the Assembly polls on the BJP ticket against Arvind Kejriwal from New Delhi, a task which by no means can be described as easy.
The Saffron Brigade has not so far announced a Chief Ministerial face though speculation is that it could be ultimately a Poorvanchali, given that the largest vote base of the Aam Aadmi Party is from settlers belonging to that part of the country. In this context the name of Manoj Tewari, Lok Sabha MP from North East Delhi has been frequently mentioned but it is possible that the party could go with Satish Upadhyaya, former Delhi BJP Chief, who is contesting from Malviya Nagar. The demographics of the capital have considerably changed over the years and while the Punjabis dominated the political scene for several decades, the migrants from Eastern UP and Bihar, are a force to reckon with. The Punjabis have been on the margins and the BJP is wanting to also get its original vote bank back.
Harish has been given the ticket from Moti Nagar and Virendra Sachdeva is the current BJP president. In addition, Harsh Malhotra, MP from East Delhi is a member of the Union Council of Ministers. Whether these efforts would work to the advantage of the Saffron Brigade is not very clear as yet. Harish is making his electoral debut and must understand that following his father’s footsteps is a Herculean task. Madan Lal Khurana was an icon and stood his ground. He was the architect of the BJP in Delhi in the same manner in which Advani built the party nationally. It should be recalled that at the height of Indira wave in 1972, there were only five Jana Sangh members of the Metropolitan Council, who were able to win. Khurana, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the then Chief Executive Councillor and Daljit Tandon were among those who made it to the Council.
The current tussle in Delhi involves three parties. The AAP is trying to retain its hold, the Congress is attempting to retrieve its lost ground and the BJP is wishing to score a win after its grand showing in 1993. Most of the established leaders have been marginalized and it is for the newcomers to make a mark in the city’s politics.
