Harsh Vardhan – The unifying force in Delhi BJP

New Delhi: Known for his easy-going attitude and simplicity, Harsh Vardhan is credited with steadfastly uniting various factions in Delhi BJP and leading the party`s aggresive campaign for Lok Sabha polls in which it recorded a clean sweep. An RSS member since his younger days, 59-year-old Vardhan was BJP`s Chief Ministerial nominee in the assembly polls in December last year and was made the city unit chief of the party in February replacing Vijay Goel. Under his leadership, BJP won all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. A practising ENT surgeon, Vardhan had taken a strong stand of not trying to cobble up a government in the city after the party fell short of four seats in the Delhi assembly polls in December last year. Vardhan had entered the political fray in 1993 when he successfully contested the Assembly polls from Krishna Nagar constituency in East Delhi in 1993. He went on to retain the seat in the 1998, 2003 and 2008 assembly elections. Fondly called "Doctor Saab" by supporters and opponents alike, Vardhan is known for his efforts in eradicating polio in Delhi when he was the Health Minister. He is known to share a very cordial relationship with RSS and people close to him say he still retains the Swayamsevak`s tendency to downplay the "Swayam" (self) giving precedence to "Seva" (service). Vardhan, known for his simplicity and amiable leadership style, is admired by many leaders belonging to various political parties. Recognising his leadership qualities, Vardhan, who hails from Baniya community, was given presidentship of Delhi BJP for three terms between 2003 and 2008. Vardhan managed to bring enthusiasm among grass root workers whose morale had taken a beating following party`s image of a "divided house" when Goel openly staked his claim for the post. Born on December 13, 1954, he had done his schooling from the Anglo-Sanskrit Victoria Jubilee Senior Secondary School in Daryaganj in central Delhi. Later, he did his MBBS and specialisation in ENT from GSVM Medical College in Kanpur. As a Health Minister, he had launched the polio eradication initiative in Delhi in October, 1994. Taking cue from the success of the programme, the Union Health Ministry adopted the same as a national programme later. He had also visited various states to persuade the health ministers to cooperate in making the country polio free. He is also credited with bringing the Delhi Prohibition of smoking and non smokers health protection bill. Soon, many states followed Delhi`s example, culminating in a Central legislation banning smoking in public places in 2002. The World Health Organisation, recognising his contribution, had awarded him the Director-General`s Commendation Medal in May, 1998. In December 2004, Vardhan had come out with his own account on how he conceived and implemented the Pulse Polio programme. The book, titled - A Tale of Two Drops -- was released by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Married to Nutan, a specialist in hospital administration who preferred to be a homemaker, Vardhan has two sons and a daughter. Vardhan is also involved in promoting ideologies of Shyama Prasad Mookherjee, the founder of the Jan Sangh, and Deen Dayal Upadhyay. As secretary of the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Foundation, he had taken up projects to assemble the collected works of Mukerjee, to restore his house in Kolkata and to promote research in topics of national importance.