The Hindu : BJP campaign gains momentum

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 28, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

BJP campaign gains momentum

By Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI, MARCH 27. Irrespective of what the pollsters say, the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party bandwagon is on the roll for the May 10 Lok Sabha elections here in the Capital. Opening their election offices, holding street corner meetings and having personal interactions with citizen groups and workers, the six BJP candidates from Delhi have launched themselves into the election mode. On the other hand, the faction-ridden Congress Party is still to decide its candidates for the seven Lok Sabha seats from Delhi.

For its part, the BJP is still undecided about whom to field from the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency and has left the decision to the party high command. The names of Siraj Qureshi and the party secretary, Vijender Kumar Gupta, have been shortlisted but a final decision is still awaited. A section of the party is also in favour of fielding the "Indian Bahu'', Smriti `Tulsi' Irani from this seat. In fact, there is a general feeling that the party should wait for the Congress to announce its candidate from this seat and then proceed accordingly. However, in the other six constituencies, the party candidates are in full flow and have begun their campaign in right earnest.

Apart from interacting with various citizen groups, the contesting candidates are holding regular meetings in various parts of their constituencies with the focus being the achievements of the NDA Government and the failure of the Sheila Dikshit Government in Delhi. In fact, every effort is being made by the BJP candidates to cash in on the popularity of the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, by projecting him as the person behind the unprecedented development witnessed throughout the country during the past five years of the NDA rule.

The Union Labour Minister, Sahib Singh Verma, seeking to retain his Outer Delhi seat, has almost covered his vastly spread constituency consisting of nearly 34 lakh-odd voters once since the elections were announced. Mr. Verma leaves his house at 6 in the morning and reaches back home well past midnight. Constant strategy sessions are held to assess the situation and keep a close watch on who all have not been attending the meetings during the day. A dedicated team of party men led by his close family members ensures that things fall in line and he has interaction sessions with citizen groups at regular intervals. In fact, Mr. Verma has been trying to enrol the support of all groups within and outside the party and smoothen things wherever hurdles come up. The Union Culture and Tourism Minister, Jagmohan, seeking a third term from New Delhi constituency, has been moving around personally meeting people and apprising them about the need to protect the culture and heritage of the Capital. Mr. Jagmohan has a strong support base in the Government colonies and is among the favourites in the party to get another term in Lok Sabha.

The South Delhi candidate, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, has gone one step ahead and interacted with prominent Muslim leaders of his constituency. His strategy has been to have maximum interaction with the citizen groups and then put the campaign into mass contact mode. However, Mr. Malhotra is facing some resistance from former party MLAs and some office-bearers and that could make things a bit difficult for him.

On the other hand, the Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Vijay Goel, has got down to the job of zeroing down on the priority areas of his newly- adopted Sadar constituency. He has constituted teams of dedicated young men and women who would be taking up the door-to-door campaign. Known to contest polls in a systematic manner, Mr. Goel has been nurturing this areas for quite some time now and has had interaction with the various Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) to get a first hand report about their problems. However, he has some special election package up his sleeve to be unleashed when the campaign peaks. Knowing that he would be faced with a tough task of managing problems within the party and from the rival Congress candidate, Mr. Goel is chalking out his strategy accordingly but the focus is development and Mr. Vajpayee's personality.

In the East Delhi constituency, the party candidate, Lal Bihari Tiwari, has been trying to further consolidate his Poorvanchal vote bank in the absence of a Congress challenge for the moment. Taking advantage of the situation, he has been on a mass contact programme trying to make it to the Lok Sabha for the fourth time in a row. His survival will depend on the choice of the Congress candidate. The Karol Bagh (SC) candidate, Anti Arya, faces internal dissensions but certainly has the edge as the Congress has still not announced its candidate, a situation likely to continue for a few more days.

Congress campaign begins: Page 8

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