Virendra Sachdeva becomes full-time Delhi BJP chief

New Delhi: Delhi BJP on Thursday got its full-time president in Virendra Sachdeva, the first party leader from Punjabi background in the last 13 years to hold the post.

Sachdeva, 55, till now held the charge of working president of Delhi BJP, which he got after the resignation of then chief of the state unit Adesh Gupta following the party's defeat in MCD polls last year.

"My priority will be to strengthen the organisation of Delhi BJP and ensure that the party wins all seven Lok Sabha seats in the city with bigger margins in next year's elections," Sachdeva told PTI at the party office on Pant Marg after being appointed full-time president of the state unit.

BJP chief JP Nadda had earlier in the day appointed new state presidents in Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Odisha.

According to BJP sources, Sachdeva has been impressive in his short stint as the party's Delhi working president since Gupta's removal from the position.

He is a low-key and out-and-out organisation person who has been able to infuse a sense of cohesion in the state unit often pulled in different directions by local heavyweights, they added.

Sachdeva in a tweet thanked the party leadership: "Many thanks to honourable BJP national president JP Nadda and the national leadership for appointing me Delhi BJP state president. I assure to discharge the organisational works of the party with dedication and honesty." Before Sachdeva, OP Kohli held the post of Delhi BJP president in 2010.

"There was a wave of happiness among the refugees who came to India from Pakistan at the time of partition after my appointment as working president of Delhi BJP and today this happiness has doubled," he said.

Before his elevation as Delhi BJP president, Sachdeva held various posts in the party organisation including state vice president and president of Chandni Chowk and Mayur Vihar district units.

Sachdeva was also a former treasurer of the Archery Association of India and president of the Delhi Archery Association. He was the manager of the Indian team that participated in the Rio Olympics.

He rose through the ranks in the party after starting his political life as an RSS volunteer in his early years.

His immediate challenges will be to spruce up the party organisation and get it ready to challenge the strong presence of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi.

In his interaction with the media after taking charge as Delhi BJP president, Sachdeva said "from today we will work determinedly to push Aam Aadmi Party off the political horizon of Delhi in 2024 and then 2025 elections."