Delhi polls: BJP to kick-start campaigning with PM Modi's mega rally

New Delhi: BJP will kick-start its campaign to capture power in Delhi at a mega rally here on 10 January to be addressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Ministers of Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra where the party formed government after winning the polls recently. The ‘Abhinandan Rally’, to be held at Ramlila Maidan, will also be addressed by BJP president Amit Shah and a number of other senior party leaders. [caption id=“attachment_2025185” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Narendra Modi. PTI[/caption] BJP Vice President in-charge of Delhi Prabhat Jha said the party’s slogan for Delhi polls will be “Ab Delhi ki bari hai (Now, it’s Delhi’s turn)” after its electoral victories in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand. “Besides Modi ji, Haryana CM ML Khattar, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das will also seek people’s support for BJP. We will put up a strong fight in the polls,” Jha said. The announcement of the rally came a day after Shah held detailed deliberations with senior leaders of BJP’s Delhi unit where he asked them to go “all out” to ensure a clear victory for the party in the Assembly election which is likely to be held in February. Jha said if a BJP leader becomes Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, then he will also address the rally at the Ramlila Ground. “In the rally, all senior leaders will appeal to the people of Delhi to support BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections,” Jha told reporters. Exuding confidence about party’s victory, Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay said people of the city will give a clear mandate and reject AAP. Asked about AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal likening his 49-day rule to ‘Ram Rajya’, Upadhyay said “people of Delhi will tell whether it was ‘Ram Rajya’ or ‘Bhogada Rajya’”. “We all know very well what type of ‘Ram Rajya’ it was. The campaign which they (AAP) are now running was also the same during Lok Sabha elections,” he said. Meanwhile, former Congress MLA SC Vats joined BJP along with a number of his supporters. According to BJP, DPCC secretary Sandeep Yadav, Congress leaders Ashok Kumar Gupta, Rekha Vohra, former IAS officer S P Singh and educationist BN Sharma also joined the party. “I was very impressed by Narendra Modiji following which I am today joining the BJP unconditionally,” Vats told reporters. PTI