The Bharatiya Janata Party’s decision to pick Adesh Kumar Gupta as its Delhi unit president, replacing Manoj Tiwari, is seen as an attempt to go back to its traditional voters’ base in the capital. Sources said Vaishyas and Punjabis have been its traditional voters for a long time. For the last about two decades, the president’s post has remained mostly with the Vaishya or Punjabi community, with an exception of Satish Upadhyay and Manoj Tiwari (both Brahmin). While Upadhyay’s appointment was not aimed at targeting any community, Tiwari was made BJP president in an attempt to woo the Poorvanchali voters.
Those state presidents from the Vaisha community include Vijay Goel, Harsh Vardhan, Vijendra Gupta, Mange Ram Garg, while from the Punjabi community, the party appointed Madan Lal Khurana, Kedar Nath Sahni and O.P. Kohli as its president. Sources said with Adesh Gupta, the party has made an attempt to go back to its traditional voters’ base.
Some within the party feel that the appointment of Gupta will help in making a dent in the Vaishya community, which has tilted in favour of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the last few years. “The Vaishya community has been a strong force in Delhi politics. They are in a position to influence voting in many constituencies, including Chandani Chowk, New Delhi, Chawari Bazar, Karol Bagh and Tri Nagar. But AAP has succeeded in snatching away Vaishya votes from the BJP. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal himself comes from the Vaishya community. Keeping their importance in mind, the AAP gave two out of three Rajya Sabha seats to Sushil Gupta and N.D. Gupta, both Vaishya,” a source said.
However, there are others who differ. “Adesh Gupta keeps a low profile. He was a Mayor of North MCD. At present, he is a ward councilor from West Patel Nagar. It will be a Herculean task for him to bring back the Vaishya community to the BJP’s fold as AAP enjoys considerable command over their votes. The party should have made a Jat leader its president to woo this community which has considerable say in Delhi politics,” said a political observer. However, party sources said that Gupta was appointed to check infighting in the state unit. Tiwari had a tough time facing this problem throughout his tenure. He does not belong to any group, which may work in favour of the organisation. Gupta also has organisational experience as he has worked with national president J.P. Nadda in the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). Also, the party wants to focus on the 2022 municipal elections. The party has been doing very well in municipal elections. In 2017, the party, under Manoj Tiwari, bagged all the three municipal corporations. With Gupta as the president, it will be easy for the party to strategize for the civic body elections, these sources feel.