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Eyeing a return to power in Delhi after a gap of 15 years, BJP today said it will announce its chief ministerial candidate "soon" for the assembly polls slated for November.
Party's Delhi election in-charge Nitin Gadkari said BJP Parliamentary Board will take a decision on the chief ministerial candidate.
"We want to finalise the chief ministerial candidate as soon as possible. The BJP Parliamentary Board will make a final decision on the issue," Gadkari told PTI.
Asked whether former Health Minister Harsh Vardhan could be BJP's candidate for the top post, the former BJP president said no name has been finalised yet.
"No decision has been made so far. The consultation process is on. I am also holding consultation with senior Delhi BJP leaders," Gadkari said.
Party sources said Vardhan, who is considered close to the RSS, is a front runner as party's chief ministerial candidate as he has a clean image and could be acceptable to all warring factions.
Asked for his comment, Vardhan said he was not aware of the issue and has not been informed about such a move.
The sources said a number of senior party leaders have been pressing for announcing the chief ministerial candidate at the earliest and even conveyed to top central leaders that Vardhan would be acceptable to them.
When asked about the issue, Delhi BJP Chief Vijay Goel said the party will take a decision at an "appropriate time".
