My future role party's internal matter: Manoj Tiwari

Taking full responsibility of his party's poor show in the Delhi Assembly polls, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Manoj Tiwari on Tuesday said his future role in the party is an internal matter.

Tiwari, who led the Delhi BJP through its impressive victories in civic body polls in 2017 and Lok Sabha elections last year, failed to pass the test of fire as his party suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Aam Aadmi Party managing to win just eight of the 70 assembly seats.

On being asked if he considered stepping down after the BJP's defeat in the assembly polls, he said, "It is an internal party matter. I will let you know if anything like that happens."

Out of the eight assembly seats the BJP won, three were under Tiwari's Lok Sabha constituency North East Delhi.

The party won four seats in East Delhi constituency represented by BJP MP Gautam Gambhir and one in South Delhi represented by party MP Ramesh Bidhuri.

In the remaining four Lok Sabha constituencies, the party was routed by the AAP.

Each of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi comprise 10 assembly segments.

Tiwari, who fought the Lok Sabha elections as a Samajwadi Party candidate in 2009 against Yogi Adityanath in Gorakhpur, joined the BJP ahead of assembly polls in 2013.

In 2014, he was fielded by the BJP from North East Delhi which he won. In November 2016, he was given responsibility to head the Delhi BJP owning to his Purvanchali background.

The term of Delhi BJP president is for three years, and Tiwari has already completed his stipulated tenure and is currently on extension, a BJP leader said.

Party sources claimed that Tiwari could be replaced with a new face and he might be given some other responsibility in the party or the government at the Centre.

Leading the BJP that was out of power in Delhi for over two decades, Tiwari had tweeted earlier that the party will form government by winning 48 seats, and dared his critics to save his tweet.

Tiwari laughed off his tweet saying he had tried to boost the morale of the party workers through his assertion.

"I am state president, so I take the responsibility for this defeat. My estimate based on some factors has proved wrong but what possibly could you do with my tweet, just keep it saved," the Delhi BJP chief said when asked about his tweet.

The BJP, which is out of power in Delhi for more than two decades, won just three seats in the 2015 Assembly elections.