Delhi polls: AAP steals a march on the BJP, Amit Shah cracks the whip on party leaders

The BJP camp in Delhi looks in a quandary while main rival AAP has already launched an aggressive campaigning for the assembly polls. With no clear direction coming from the party’s leadership the BJP workers are a dispirited lot. [caption id=“attachment_2026423” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  AFP[/caption] “Dilli ke karyakarta men utsah nahin hai…state leadership Hitler ki tarah behave kar rahi hai (Party workers in Delhi are not enthusiastic…the state leadership is behaving like Hitler),” a foot soldier of the saffron brigade told Firstpost without wishing to be named. The party has not apparently started aggressive poll campaign in the city. “We are yet to start a full-fledged campaign, while AAP, is using all means to reach out to people,” said another worker. He added that the party would have to pay a price for not declaring the names of the candidates so far. “Elections are fought on money. Since the party has not released any list of its candidates, not even indicated the ticket seekers to go ahead, no one wants to spend money. All the candidates have adopted the policy of wait and watch.” A few workers said the Delhi BJP suffers from “lack of leadership” and “political inexperience”. A senior party leader said: “We are failing to capitalise on the failures of the Aam Aadmy Party. The party will have to understand that Delhi is not Jharkhand, Haryana or Maharashtra where it registered victory riding on the Modi wave. The party must realise that the results of recently concluded elections in Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir have given an indication the Modi charisma is losing sheen and therefore, we could not get majority on our own in the two states,” a senior leader who did not want to be named said. According to sources who attended a meeting at the party headquarters at Ashoka Road, BJP president Amit Shah is not happy with the state of affairs in Delhi. He is not satisfied with the arrangement for public rallies of BJP MPs by the state unit and he has directed local leaders to gather more people for the rallies. In a meeting with Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay along with several party office-bearers, Shah is believed to have directed the unit to launch an all out campaign to ensure party’s victory in the elections. Union Minister Piyush Goel has been given the responsibility to ensure that party posters and hoardings come up at every nook and corners of the city by Saturday night so that the party becomes more visible. Because of the threat posed by the AAP, the source said, Shah has started keeping an eye on the political developments in Delhi where the BJP has remained out of power for the last 15 years. The December 2013 polls threw up a hung 70-member house, with the BJP winning 31 seats, the AAP 28 and the Congress eight, with three seats going to other parties and independents. The AAP formed a government that lasted 49 days, necessitating fresh polls. “Shah is aware that the Delhi BJP lacks coordination which can affect its prospect. The prevailing situation can once again result in a hung assembly,” the senior leader added. Since Shah believes in working on ground to reach out to voters, he wants the same from the state leadership, said another source. It was decided in November last year that all BJP MPs would hold 2,700 public meetings across the city. However, the figure was later reduced to around 1,400. “But the meetings measurably failed as the state unit could not gather enough crowds. Their management has been sloppy and hence the MP’s lost interest,” said the source. The BJP has set a goal to achieve 60 seats in Delhi and therefore, the party’s national president does not want to take chances, he added.