New Delhi: Accusing Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit of being "very arrogant" and "dictatorial", Delhi BJP Chief Vijender Gupta on Wednesday exuded confidence of ousting Congress from power and dismissed suggestions that Arvind Kejriwal factor will impact next year's assembly poll outcome. Gupta, whose party won the municipal polls in April, dismissed that activist Kejriwal posed any challenge to the party by deciding to make a foray into politics, saying he was just a "showman who thrives on only media publicity" and cannot cut into opposition's votes Observing that Congress was in a very "precarious situation" in Delhi due to "mis-governance" of Dikshit dispensation, Gupta said the city government has been piling up woes of the common man by adopting "anti-people" policies.
He particularly attacked the Chief Minister, claiming that after coming to power for the third consecutive term, development has taken a "backseat" and government is being run as per her "whims and fancies". He referred to Delhi government's decision to go ahead with seven more Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor in the city eventhough there has been stiff opposition to the first such stretch in South Delhi.
"The Chief Minister has become extremely arrogant. When people are strongly opposing the first BRT corridor, by announcing to build seven new corridors, what is she trying to prove. There is a kind of arrogance in the back of her mind. There is a kind of 'Hitlershahi' (dictatorial) attitude in her functioning," Gupta said. "There is no performance based arrogance. There is no intention to perform either. She does not do things with a broad mind. She feels whatever she decides, people like it," he said.
Gupta said BJP will primarily focus on "widespread" corruption in the government and spiralling price rise of essential commodities in the run up to the elections which is scheduled to be held in November next year. "We are confident of winning the assembly polls next year as people of Delhi are fed up with the Congress regime. Price rise and corruption will be the main issues for us. Peoples' resentment will ensure fall of the Congress government," he
said.
Asked whether Kejriwal, who has already announced that his proposed party will contest the assembly polls, will cut into opposition's votes, Gupta said,"He (Kejriwal) is a showman and is not impacting the common man. "His target group is very small. He is thriving on the media publicity only. The number of people who read newspapers, watch TV news and analyse them is not very much."
On whether he was dismissing Kejriwal's presence in Delhi's politics, he said "I am not questioning his leadership but I do not think he is consistent in his issues." Queried whether Kejriwal has hijacked the power tariff issue in the city, Gupta disapproved of the activist's call to the citizens to not pay the "inflated bills", saying in a democracy one needs to follow certain rules.
"I could have given the call not to pay the bills. But we do not think it is proper. There are certain norms which you need to follow. He reconnected electricity connection of one Bana Ram and the next day the consumer paid the bill to the discom," Gupta said. Asked whether he was a chief ministerial contender of BJP and that whether the party was grappling with the "problem of plenty", Gupta refused to give a direct answer saying the party leadership will take an appropriate decision at the "right time".
"I am working for the party. I do not believe in any race. The party will decide about it. It is a good thing to have more capable people (for chief ministership)," he said. A number of city BJP leaders including Gupta, Vijay Goel and VK Malhotra are known to be in race for BJP's chief ministerial candidature. On whether he would be interested in a second term as party president, Gupta, whose tenure will come to an end in December, also refused to give a direct answer, saying party will take a decision on the basis of his performance.
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