‘A big loss, we were confident of Yogi’s win’

“For the party, it is an irreparable loss. We were very confident of winning the seat,” said BJP president Dr Harsh Vardhan. Following Yogi’s death, the Election Commission has cancelled polls in the area.

Till 10 pm on Saturday, Yogi was at a worker’s house in Karol Bagh, taking last-minutes details of the 18 polling stations coming under the newly added portions in his constituency. In the morning, he spoke to his workers, giving them minute details with regard to the preparation for a pad yatra in Pusa. “He told me to pick up pamphlets, flowers and posters. He said he would reach in half an hour. Instead, the news of his death came,” said Sanjeev Bhatnagar, one of his key campaigners.

Confident of a victory the fourth time round, Yogi had called up BJP’s chief ministerial candidate V K Malhotra to inform him that he was well placed in the area.

Yogi managed to get the ticket this time after a tough competition. He got the seat only after the party decided to give tickets to every sitting MLA. “I feel I am just out of an ICU,” Yogi had told Newsline then.

Ravinder Gupta and R P Singh were the other contenders. “The party had almost finalised my name, but they later decided to give the ticket to Yogi. But there was no bitterness between us. He called me last night and said he was confident,” said Gupta.

Ramakant Goswami of the Congress, who is contesting from the Rajinder Nagar seat, was present at the cremation. “I had last met him on November 12 during the scrutiny of nominations. I am shocked,” he said.

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