NEW DELHI: Buoyed by its performance in reserved Assembly segments in the recently concluded parliamentary elections in the national capital, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to focus more on these seats. As Assembly elections are due next year, the saffron outfit will make concerted efforts to retain the vote share it has received.
In order to woo SC votes, Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari will extend its “slum stay” programme to all 12 reserved Assembly constituencies.
A senior Delhi BJP leader, aware of the development, said that as part of the election strategy, Tiwari will be spending more time in the Assembly seats in question to maintain the momentum of the recent victory.
“Our party has never won all these seats with an overwhelming number of votes, except in 1993 Assembly polls. The BJP would win just two-three seats. Tiwari, as part of his ‘slum stay’ outreach programme, will do pravas (night stay) in SC seats,” said the leader.
Around two years ago, Tiwari started a programme to woo the AAP vote bank in slum clusters. Soon after the Lok Sabha elections, he resumed his initiative and went to spend a night with people in Balmiki Basti, the city’s oldest slum, at Wazirabad village in Northeast Delhi’s Timarpur. During his stay in slums, he listens to the locals’ issues.
Another BJP leader said efforts would be made to focus on the Aam Aadmi Party’s support base.“During the programme, we will tell people why a common party in Delhi and at the Centre is important for the overall development of the city. The city will certainly benefit if the same party rules at both levels. We will have to instal this feeling in the voters because in certain quarters people are still favouring AAP in the state government,” he said.