NEW DELHI: In an attempt to carry forward Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message of ‘Sab ka Saath, sab ka Vikas’ (development for all), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is to launch an outreach programme in Muslims-majority areas in Delhi.
As part of the initiative, in the next three weeks, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari will stay with locals in minority-dominated Assembly segments to understand their problems. According to senior party leaders, Tiwari may kick off the programme in Okhla Assembly constituency, which is considered an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stronghold.
“As part of my ongoing ‘Ratri pravas’ (night stay) programme, I will be spending 12 hours with the residents of the Assembly constituency from 7 pm to 7 am. Until we reach out to each section of society, we can’t justify the PM’s message, ‘Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas’,” said Tiwari.
Buoyed by its performance in reserved Assembly segments in parliamentary elections in Delhi, the saffron party had earlier decided to focus more on those seats in view of the Assembly elections due next year.
A Delhi BJP leader said that apart from the 12 Assembly segments reserved for SC candidates, arrangements are being made for Tiwari’s stay in at least six Assembly seats which have a significant Muslim presence. “Preferably, he will be staying at the residence of a non-BJP worker. The party is looking at six Muslim-populated Assembly segments, including five in which we have failed to perform in Lok Sabha elections,” said the leader.
The areas with a large number of Muslim voters are Seelampur, Mustafabad, Babarpur, Tirlokpuri, Okhla, Ballimaran, Matia Mahal, and Kirari.