Survey to decide BJP's CM face in Delhi

The BJP is likely to decide within a month on whether or not it will to go into the Delhi Assembly elections with a chief ministerial face, as a survey is underway for the purpose.

With Arvind Kejriwal's tenure as Chief Minister comes to an end in February 2020, Delhi is gearing up for Assembly elections.

According to sources, the BJP doesn't want to project a chief ministerial candidate ahead of the elections, but it is having second thoughts.

"A section within the party feels not going into the elections with a CM face may cost the party dear. Thus came the idea of the survey, which is being done in three phases," said a party source.

The source said the survey, since the beginning, indicates that people would prefer the BJP with a CM face.

With Kejriwal as its chief minister face, the Aam Aadmi Party claims that there is a battle in the BJP over who would be it chief ministerial candidate.

BJP Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari, Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel are slugging it out to become the party's CM face in Delhi, said AAP leader Sanjay Singh.

The BJP source added that the three-phase survey is almost over and its results will soon be put before the BJP parliamentary board, its top forum, for a final decision.

"The forum will decide whether the BJP will go into the elections with a face or not and if yes, who that person would be," he said.

The BJP central unit also fears that not projecting Tiwari as its CM candidate would hurt the party as Delhi has a large section of voters from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

( With inputs from IANS )