A septuagenarian war veteran, Col (retd) BK Oberoi, the BJP's candidate from the Rajouri Garden ward has won another battle, albeit on a different turf.
Oberoi, 70, trounced the AAP's Manpreet Singh by a margin of 3,237 votes to secure a seat in the South Delhi Municipal Council.
He said he had been working with former South Delhi mayor Subhash Arya for the last 23 years and knows the area and its problems well.
"I have been working with Subhash Arya since 1994 and the people in the area know me by my name. But I never thought I would fight an election.
"Arya told me to prepare my biodata after he could not contest (as the BJP had decided against giving tickets to its sitting councillors) and that is how I jumped into the poll fray," he said.
Oberoi, who has a degree in civil engineering from Pune University, said he will carry forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Swacch Bharat message and ensure that the issues related to cleanliness are addressed.
"I know that 'Safai'(cleanliness) is the top priority of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I will see how we can utilise the limited manpower in a better manner for ensuring cleanliness in the area," he said.
"A lot of work has been done but there is always scope for improvement. The work pertaining to cleaning of drains can always be improved," he added.
Calling the elections a referendum on the AAP, he said, "Things have changed completely for them."
He also credited Modi's vision and his image for the BJP's sweeping victory.
Oberoi said he was part of the 1971 Indo-Pak war and despite losing his father that time, he did not leave the battlefield.
The war had started on December 3, 1971 and I had entered East Pakistan, he recalled.
"After I finished the operation I was part of, the first message I got was that I have lost my father. My commanding officer asked me to leave but I refused to go. I told him I am not going to leave the battlefield," he said.
It was only on December 14 after 95,000 prisoners of war had surrendered that I returned to my mother, he recalled.
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