Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri's remarks spark speculations.
Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri seemed to have declared BJP's chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming assembly elections in Delhi.
Addressing party workers in the national capital, Puri said they will only rest after Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari is the chief minister.
"We are going to fight Assembly elections under the leadership of Manoj Tiwari ji and we will rest only after making him the Chief Minister," Puri, who is also the co-incharge of Delhi BJP, was quoted as saying by ANI.
Assembly election in Delhi is scheduled for February this year and the BJP is hoping to repeat its Lok Sabha performance when it won all the seven states in the Union Territory. In the last assembly election in 2015, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had swept to power by 67 seats in the 70-member House.
The AAP latched on to Puri's statement, saying that the battle in the upcoming election will be between chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Manoj Tiwari.
In a tweet, AAP spokesperson Raghav Chadha said, "We welcome this move by BJP to declare it's CM candidate for upcoming Delhi Elections. Now the match is set, it's going to be "Arvind Kejriwal vs Manoj Tiwari"."
Later, Puri clarified in a tweet that the party has not announced any chief ministerial candidate and he only meant that the BJP would win with a huge mandate under Tiwari's leadership.
"The BJP is headed for victory in Delhi. The party has so far not nominated anyone for the post of Chief Minister. Manoj Tiwari is the president of Delhi BJP. The party is working vigorously under his leadership. My statement meant that the BJP would win the upcoming elections under his leadership with a huge mandate," he said.
At the rally, Puri also attacked Kejriwal over the recent controversy on water quality in Delhi.
“Arvind Kejriwal says Delhi’s tap water is not bad. If it is not bad, let him drink a litre of it and we will know so that its quality can be known,” the minister said according to ANI.
A controversy over the quality of tap water in Delhi began on last week after Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan shared the findings of a study conducted by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) which reportedly said water in Delhi was the worst among major Indian cities.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}