Harsh Vardhan BJP’s chief ministerial candidate for Delhi

New Delhi: The BJP on Wednesday declared Dr Harsh Vardhan as its chief ministerial candidate for the Delhi assembly elections. The decision brought an end to uncertainty over who would be the chief minister if BJP wrests power from Congress in the elections to be held on December 4.

However, Dr Vijay Goel, head of Delhi BJP unit and the main contender for the position, has denied any dissidence in the party even as his supporters made their displeasure known to the party along with media reports.

Party president Rajnath Singh announced the decision in a press meet here Wednesday saying the decision was unanimous. Apart from other senior leaders including L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Delhi election in charge Nitin Gadkari, both Goel and Vardhan were also present at the press conference.

All members of the parliamentary board were in the meeting except Narendra Modi who has given his consent to the decision, party sources said.

The party leadership feels Vardhan, a former health minister of Delhi with a clean image, will be a better choice than Goel to put up a tough fight against Sheila Dikshit, chief minister of Delhi for three times on a row, and Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, known for leading the fight against corruption.