JOIN USHarsharan Singh Balli is happy to be back to his BJP “roots” and is eager to prove his political worth in the next Assembly elections.
“I am not a spent force,” claims the 66-year-old strong man from Hari Nagar, who during his four stints as legislator has also served as the city’s industries minister.
Ask him about his decision to leave the BJP for a year and he slips into an apologetic tone.
“It was a mistake. But now I am eager to work for the BJP once again, with renewed energy,” he says.
Balli also sees a marked change in the political atmosphere in the city since the last Assembly elections in December 2013.
“The Narendra Modi impact is visible all over the city. Specially the youth, are getting attracted more and more towards Modi,” he says.
A large chunk of young and energetic people who want to do something for the country are now deserting the Aam Aadmi Party and aligning with team Modi, he says.
Balli says he has not joined the BJP with the hope of getting a party ticket to contest from Hari Nagar, still he says he has a vision for the constituency which he nurtured for 20 years.
“I am going ask the next legislator from this seat to help bring a medical college to the area. When I was the legislator, I opened an engineering college in the constituency with the help of Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee,” he says.
“I also got three schools, a stadium, a water pumping station and a 66 KV power sub-station built in Hari Nagar,” he says.
Balli lost the 2008 and 2013 Assembly polls but this did not deter him from serving the people.
“I was active even when I was not a legislator. Through my efforts, I got two the education department to start nearly 10 schools in the area,” says the prominent Sikh leader, who was earlier wheelchair- bound for about two years after a nasty fall.
As he returned to the BJP fold, his family members gave him moral support to public admit that leaving the BJP was his mistake. “My wife has been a partner in my political success,” he says, with a smile.