Eyebrows were raised within the BJP camp on Monday after the party inducted former UPA Minister and a lightweight, Krishna Tirath into the party. Her joining BJP comes amidst the party’s efforts to woo Dalit voters of the capital to boost its prospects in the February 7 polls. Delhi has 12 reserved seats of which a majority was won by the AAP in the last assembly polls in 2013. BJP won only two while Congress got one. Some felt that induction of Tirath could send in a “wrong signal” and it might seem that the party was getting somewhat “desperate.”
Fifty-nine year old Dalit leader, Tirath was welcomed in the BJP by party president Amit Shah with a bouquet of flowers. The former women and child development minister in the Manmohan Singh-led UPA Government was accompanied by BJP’s in-charge of Delhi affairs Prabhat Jha and party’s state unit chief Satish Upadhyay. Strangely, senior Congress leaders were not aware about Tirath’s plan to resign from the party.
“It is a question of ideology. I met BJP President Amit Shah to serve the people.... I have come with this aim,” Tirath, who was a member of the Delhi legislative Assembly between 1984-2004 and the North West Delhi MP from 2004 till 2014, said after meeting the BJP supremo. Two-time MP and three time MlA, Tirath was the known face of Congress in Delhi. She was Minister in the first Congress government led by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and she also become Union Minister of Women and Child Welfare in the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government. It is learnt that BJP may give ticket to her from Patel Nagar seat. She had earlier represented Baljeet Nagar seat prior the delimitation of assembly boundaries.
Asked what would be her role in the BJP, Tirath said the party chief would decide that and added, “My role will be towards public service.” But many within the BJP said that Tirath’s joining the BJP may send a wrong signal among the party workers.
A senior local leader said: “First it was former IPS officer Kiran Bedi, then former AAP leader Shazia Ilmi who joined the BJP. Now, it is Krishna Tirath. Such developments show that the BJP was desperately brining leaders from other parties. This also raises a vital question whether there was a dearth of leaders in the Delhi BJP.” The Congress leader also stated that induction of Tirath in BJP would not auger well in the party during assembly polls. It would be pertinent to mention that all SC/ST leaders of Congress have been opposing her candidature during lok Sabha polls last year.
The Congress appeared to be taken aback by Tirath’s move to desert the party. Congress chief spokesperson Ajay Maken said it showed the “nervousness and desperation” of the BJP which was ready to bring any leader in the party fold ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Ramlila Maidan rally had evoked a “lukewarm” response.
Maken said that the BJP had to import leaders from other parties because they have no faith in their own leaders. He said ever since Bedi has joined the BJP, there was a terrible leadership crisis in the saffron outfit. He said: “The BJP has been facing leadership crisis since 1998. They had to bring former Union minister Sushma Swaraj to replace then Chief Minister Saheb Singh Verma in 1998.”
Maken said that the Congress had both tested and trusted leaders in the city. “But our principal opposition, BJP does not have any credible leader that’s why they are importing leaders from other parties.” When asked, lovely said that Tirath was seeking ticket from Patel Nagar seat which the party has refused, that’s why she has left the Congress party.