NEW DELHI: Taking a serious note of the ‘poorly-managed’ campaign of its celebrity candidate for East Delhi parliamentary constituency, Gautam Gambhir, the central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stepped in and appointed on Monday vice president Shyam Jaju as special in charge for overall monitoring and glitch-free electioneering for the former international cricketer.
Jaju is also in charge of the Delhi BJP. Praveen Shankar Kapoor, an experienced hand in the local unit of the party, also a spokesperson, has been entrusted with the responsibility to oversee Gambhir’s media relations till the election is over.
“The decision was taken after a series of goof-ups, which has upset the central leadership. A couple of complaints against Gambhir for holding election meetings without requisite permissions have set the alarm bells ringing. These mistakes caused major embarrassment to the leadership despite a team of the general secretary and the vice president of the state unit managing Gambhir’s election,” said a senior BJP leader, privy to the development. Confirming the development, Jaju said that to put special focus on the campaign in east Delhi constituency, officer-bearers are being given additional responsibility.
“Given the situation, party leaders are handed over duties to ensure a win. I will be overseeing east Delhi Lok Sabha seat. I have already taken a meeting of workers and leaders there on Sunday,” he said.On Saturday, the Delhi Police filed a complaint against Gambhir for holding an election meeting in Jal Vihar without permission on a report filed by after an assistance returning office.
Gambhir was inducted into the party just before the elections after Union minister and senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley showed faith in him.
In another incident, which needed an intervention of the Central leadership, two BJP leaders got into a heated argument during a meeting. They later turned violent.In yet another gaffe, the BJP leader said Gambhir got bad press as he reached a meeting venue near Mayur Vihar two hours late.“In fact, Gambhir reached the venue but he was made to wait in the car as the permission for the vehicle arranged for the road show could not be obtained in time,” said the leader.