BJP deviates from policy
Sushma to be projected as
CM
Tribune News
Service and agencies
NEW DELHI, Oct 12 —
Deviating from its declared policy of not projecting any
individual as the chief ministerial candidate for the
coming assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) has decided to project Ms Sushma Swaraj for the
post in Delhi.
A decision in this regard
for Rajasthan, which is also going to poll along with
Delhi and Madhya Pradesh later this month, will be
announced soon, party general secretary M. Venkaiah Naidu
said today.
The national executive of
the party which met in Jaipur in August had decided
against projecting anyone as the candidate for the top
post in the three states.
Justifying the change in
the policy, Mr Naidu at the daily briefing, said it was
"in conformity with our view that people should be
given an opportunity to know who will be their Chief
Minister before the poll".
Earlier in the day Ms
Sushma Swaraj, who was asked to lead the party in the
assembly elections slated for November 25, today took
over as the first woman Chief Minister of Delhi.
The former Union
Information and Broadcasting Minister was administered
the oath of office and secrecy by Lieut Governor, Mr
Vijai Kapoor, at a ceremony held at the Raj Niwas this
morning.
The Union Home Minister,
Mr L.K. Advani, party president, Mr Kushabhau Thakre, the
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Madan Lal
Khurana, the outgoing Chief Minister, Mr Sahib Singh
Verma, party general secretary, Mr Venkaiah Naidu, and
the ministers from the Sahib Singh Verma Cabinet were
also present at the ceremony.
The council of ministers,
to be decided by the party later is likely to take oath
tomorrow.
After taking over as the
Chief Minister, she drove down to the Secretariat to take
charge of the office.
Speaking to newspersons in
her chamber, Ms Swaraj said that she would consult senior
leaders on the formation of the cabinet. "The
decision on the formation of the Cabinet would be taken
only after a party meeting," she said.
She said her priority
would be to tackle all those current issues which are
agitating the minds of people. "The spiralling
prices of onions and the law and order situation are two
of those issues which require priority handling,"
she said.
"We can’t take
any major policy decision now since the code of conduct
has already come into effect," she added.
On how she planned to lead
the party in the poll, Ms Swaraj stated that the
government’s performance in the last five years
would be sufficient for victory. "I would work on
the initiatives undertaken by Mr Sahib Singh and we are
going to win more seats compared to last time," she
said.
Ms Sushma Swaraj
categorically stated that the transfer of power would not
dent the party’s image. "Mr Sahib Singh Verma
and his supporters would continue to work for
party," she said to a query on Mr Sahib Singh being
"unhappy" over his being forced to step down.
On the question of the
transfer of Delhi police to the state government and the
statehood for the Capital, Ms Swaraj said that the BJP
was at the Centre for about six months now. "Such
major issues take time to be resolved," she said.
Ms Swaraj made it clear
that any change that may come about in the bureaucracy
would be strictly according to the code of conduct.
The first day in the
office was a hectic day for Ms Sushma Swaraj who met
officers including senior Delhi Police officials and had
an informal meeting with some members of the Legislative
Assembly.
In the afternoon, Ms
Swaraj went to meet her predecessor Mr Sahib Singh at his
residence on the Sham Nath Marg. Ms Swaraj and Mr Sahib
Singh were closeted at a meeting for more than an hour.
Before the meeting, the party general secretary, Mr
Venkaiah Naidu and the Delhi party president, Mr Mange
Ram Garg, also met the former Chief Minister.
After the meeting Mr Sahib
Singh said "Ms Swaraj had come to discuss the
functioning of the government. It was a courtesy
call."
To the question of how he
planned to convince his supporters about this change, Mr
Sahib Singh said that he would pacify them "although
it will be a difficult task."
Mr Sahib Singh also
decided that he was not going to stay in the house
allotted to him and would shift to his brother’s
residence in Shalimar Bagh. He would, however, retain the
house for the time being and utilise it to meet his
supporters.
Then at about 4 pm, in a
dramatic manner, Mr Sahib Singh left his Sham Nath
residence on foot to catch a bus to the Shalimar Bagh
home. Two Delhi Transport Corporation buses, with route
no. 16 hastily written on a piece of paper and pasted on
the wind shield, were brought to the nearest bus stop.
Bringing traffic to a halt
on the Sham Nath Marg, Mr Sahib Singh then boarded the
bus along with his supporters and a horde of newspersons
left for Shalimar Bagh.
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