New Delhi important for Modi's anointment as PM: Meenakshi Lekhi (Interview) (Election Special)

She calls herself "the blessed child of destiny". Belonging to an eminent family of legal lumanaries, Meenakshi Lekhi said winning the prestigious New Delhi Lok Sabha seat is important as it will pave the way for the annointment of the BJP's Narendra Modi's as prime minister after the general election results are announced May 16.

In an over one-and-a-half-hour long interview to IANS, Lekhi slammed her Congress opponent Ajay Maken, sitting parliamentarian from the constituency, and called him a "missing MP".

"Modi wave will help me win. Whenever people look at me they think this seat is important for Modi to become the prime minister. This will help me...and this reason is enough for me to win," Lekhi, who herself is a lawyer and is married to India's top lawyer Aman Lekhi, who is son of leading Supreme Court lawyer P.N. Lekhi.

She dismisses the suggestion that the BJP has become a one-man party and called Modi its "brand ambassador".

With balloting in Delhi less than a week away, Lekhi addresses public gatherings on many occasions through a walkie-talkie if she is unable to reach the venue.

During her campaigning, she keeps Lotus flower - BJP's electoral symbol - and holds it high before addressing public gatherings. She usually ends her campaign speech with "Har Har Modi" and asks the crowd to repeat it.

Taking potshots at two-time MP Maken, she said: "This gentleman (Maken) has not been seen in his constituency for 10 long years. No money has been spent from the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) Scheme. So you have a missing MP," Lekhi maintained.

"He has been urban development minister and still the condition of habitation in this city is worse," added Lekhi, who is also the party's spokesperson.

Like other Delhi constituencies, New Delhi is also witnessing a triangular fight. Another important contender is AAP's Ashish Khetan.

AAP won seven out of 10 assembly seats from the New Delhi parliamentary constituency in last December's assembly elections.

Asked whether she and her party fear that AAP can upset the applecart for the BJP in the general election, she said: "Nonsense! There is no sense of fear."

Though she dismisses Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as no competition, in most of her campaign speechs she trashes the over a year-old party, which made a sensational debut in the assembly elections.

"AAP is in 'save the Congress programme'. Arvind Kejriwal is helping the Congress and he is a Congress stooge," she said while leaving for a rally in her SUV.

"He is a person for whom Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter after 17 and a half years of his stay in Delhi that he should not be transferred out," Lekhi said.

Asked how her name sprung up for the ticket when big names like Subramanian Swami and Nirmala Sitharaman were reportedly also in contention, Lekhi said: "I never sought anything. My name was there since day one.

My party has chosen me as the candidate because they thought I was the best suited person."

High on her agenda is improving the infrastructure in New Delhi, a part of which is known as Lutyens Delhi and houses colonial-era built bungalows and includes the government district. Top politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen live in this high-profile constituency, also specked with slums and shanties.

Lekhi said she was also keen on generating jobs for youth.

(Gaurav Sharma can be contacted at gaurav.s@ians.in)