The Hindu : BJP steals a march over Congress

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 18, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

BJP steals a march over Congress

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, MARCH 17. Even as the Congress continues to be in the "thinking mode'' over finalisation of candidates for election to the seven Lok Sabha seats from Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidates for six of the seats have already hit the campaign trail. With the auspicious "Navratra festival'' beginning next week, these candidates have decided to formally launch their campaign by inaugurating their high-profile election offices.

Interestingly, the Congress is still to discuss and shortlist the names of the prospective candidates for the seven seats. The Screening Committee for Delhi has not yet met formally to discuss various names and this exercise is likely to be completed by the end of this month. It is learnt that a decision would only be taken at a later stage as elections are scheduled to be held on May 10. In fact, intense lobbying has begin within the Congress for the party tickets and all the prospective candidates are busy trying to make an impression with the Delhi leaders as well as AICC leadership in order to firm up their case.

On the other hand, the BJP candidates in Delhi for the six Parliamentary seats are already in the election mode and intend to formally launch their campaign from March 21. First, to hit the campaign trail would be the Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Vijay Goel, whose campaign would be flagged off by the party president, Venkaiah Naidu, on March 21 from his Roop Nagar residence in the Sadar Parliamentary constituency. In fact, Mr. Goel would shift his residence from the 9 Mahadev Road to Roop Nagar from that day in order to be nearer to the people and personally monitor the election war room. "Once the campaign gets going, I will apprise the people about the local and national issues involved in the elections. I will take forward the good work done by my predecessor, Madan Lal Khurana, and put Sadar on the road to express development,'' Mr. Goel remarked.

On the other hand, the Union Labour Minister, Sahib Singh Verma, has already hit the roads in the Outer Delhi Parliamentary constituency. Mr. Verma, is out of his house by 6 a.m. and only returns back at around midnight. Having got a lead over the Congress that is still to decide its candidate, Mr. Verma is taking no chances and has undertaken a mass contact programme. In fact, he would also be launching his election campaign formally from March 21. His election office would be inaugurated either by the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, or the Union Health Minister, Sushma Swaraj, from Kali Mandir at Deepali Chowk in North-West Delhi. In fact, Mr. Verma claimed that he was receiving an overwhelming response from the people and had the added advantage of having a lead over his invisible rival till now.

As for the senior BJP leader, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, seeking a re-election from the South Delhi Lok Sabha seat, he has already worked out his strategy till the voting date. Mr. Malhotra has coined a slogan "Ten Youth for One Booth'' in order to ensure foolproof electoral management. This is to prevent any mischief at the polling booths and prevent casting of bogus votes. Mr. Malhotra would also use the auspicious Navratra festival period to formally launch his campaign but it will not be on March 21 but a few days later. Things are no different for the other BJP candidates who are not leaving any stone unturned to attract the attention of the voters.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi