PM star campaigner for Delhi elections, says Nitin Gadkari

• BJP not to name chief ministerial candidate
• Elections likely to be held in February next year
• ‘If people vote on Modi wave, then God save India’

New Delhi: With elections being gonged-down for Delhi, the BJP is unequivocal about its strategy for the campaign. "PM Modi is already the face of the party. We have had a historic win under him. There is no question of changing the face," said Union minister Nitin Gadkari said.

The elections which are likely to be held in February next year, party Delhi Chief Satish Upadhyay said that the party will fight elections collectively and refused to name the chief ministerial candidate. "It's too early to talk about the CM candidate. The party will decide at the right time and will choose a leader through a democratic process," he added.

Congress MLA Arvinder Singh Lovely said that his party had been demanding repolls for a long time.

On the question of Modi wave due to which the BJP swept Haryana, Lovely said, "Given the present situation, if people vote on the basis of Modi wave, then god should save Delhi and India."

While former CM Sheila Dikshit, who had ruled Delhi for 15 years, has already said that she is no more interested in Delhi politics, Lovely said that Congress has many leaders. When asked who would represent Delhi in polls, Lovely said, "Sheila was never the face of Delhi. She was just the CM.”

‘AAPwill win 45 seats’
AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal said the Centre was forced to take the decision as BJP's attempts to "poach" AAP MLAs did not succeed and exhuded confidence of winning at least 45 seats in the polls to the 70-member House.

The former Delhi CM accused BJP of trying to form a government by "hook or crook", and thanked AAP legislators for "foiling" efforts by that party to take the reins of Delhi through "unfair means".

"BJP was trying to form government through dishonesty. Four attempts by them to form government had been foiled. Finally following court's intervention, they were forced to recommend dissolution of the Delhi Assembly," Kejriwal said.
The AAP Chief also referred to a video released in September by his party in which Delhi BJP Vice President Sher Singh Dagar purportedly offered Rs 4 crore to an AAP MLA. BJP had issued a show cause notice to Dagar.

"This is probably for the first time in history of India that dishonest efforts to influence even a single MLA did not succeed. It proved that everybody is not for sale. There is still honesty," he said.