Manoj Tiwari offers to resign, party says stay put for now

Following a humiliating defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the recently-concluded Delhi assembly elections where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was swept back to power, party’s Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari offered to resign from his post. However, his resignation was not accepted by the party.

New Delhi: BJP's Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari offered to resign from his post on Wednesday, just a day after the BJP faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi Assembly polls. The party, however, has refused to accept his resignation.

While it may be a reprieve for Tiwari, whose removal was being talked about ever since Tuesday's election debacle, the BJP leadership is believed to be not in favour of a change of guard at the moment.

Informed sources told a news agency that while refusing to accept Tiwari's resignation, which was addressed to BJP President J.P. Nadda, the party leadership is said to have told Tiwari that a change of guard in Delhi will take place as and when "structural changes are made in BJP's Delhi unit.

The Delhi BJP unit has often been a problematic one because of the internal strife. While Vijay Goel has one set of followers, Tiwari has another set and so does Harsh Vardhan.

There have been demands within the party to remove Tiwari from the top post in Delhi for more than a year now. But then BJP President Amit Shah refused to entertain such demands with Delhi elections in mind, where Purvanchalis constitute a sizeable number. Tiwari often flaunts his Purvanchali origin as his political USP.

But after BJP managed to win just eight seats as against AAP's 62 on Tuesday, the saffron party may seriously think of a complete rejig of the Delhi unit.

In fact, BJP President Nadda has convened a meeting on Wednesday evening to review Delhi poll results and to fix accountability.

IANS Report