Lok Sabha polls 2014: Harsh Vardhan invokes Atal Bihari Vajpayee while speaking of Modi Wave

NEW DELHI: For Delhi BJP president, Dr Harsh Vardhan, invoking Atal Bihari Vajpayee was as important on polling day as seeking votes for a better future with Narendra Modi as prime minister.

Wearing a saffron shirt, stitched specially for the photo-op, Harsh Vardhan was confident of winning not just his Chandni Chowk seat but the party winning the other six in the Capital too. Unruffled by the sea of supporters and pushy mediapersons, Harsh Vardhan was calm as he said that voters would ‘rectify the mistake’ of voting out the Vajpayee government.

“The Modi wave is the answer. People see a better future for themselves in Narendra Modi,” the BJP leader told ET.

He himself was battling against odds in Chandni Chowk, a constituency with over 20% Muslim voters, and carrying the tag of an ‘outsider’ having contested all earlier elections, that too for the Delhi assembly from east Delhi’s Krishna Nagar. He was confident that his goodwill and image will see him through.

During campaigning, he repeatedly had to refer to Vajpayee government to drive home the point that BJP was a “well-wisher of Muslims in the real sense.”

Harsh Vardhan said that he never let it bother him that there were a large number of Muslim voters in his constituency. “I have never done my politics on basis of caste or religion. For me all are equal,” he said. Did he refer to Vajpayee because Modi was seen as polarising figure? “Not at all. Modi ji stands for development.

Development of all, irrespective of religion, caste or creed, shall be the rashtradharm of the Modi government. The Congress government talks about secularism but has turned Chandni Chowk into a slum,” Harsh Vardhan alleged.

He was confident that BJP would get Muslim votes too.