NEW DELHI: The BJP was left sweating over the low voter turnout in the Delhi Assembly elections, which went down further from the last Assembly polls. Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ranbir Singh on Saturday said the total voter turnout for this year was 62.59 per cent, a drop in comparison to 2015 Assembly polls, which recorded a voter turnout of 67.47 per cent.
BJP’s Delhi unit held a meeting on late Saturday night regarding the drop. BJP national president J.P. Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari, Delhi election in-charge Prakash Javadekar, in-charge Nityanad Rai and several other leaders were present at the meeting where voting on every assembly seat was reviewed.
The BJP leaders are worried not only over the low turnout but also the exit polls which claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will repeat the performance of 2015. Several party leaders feel that the decline in the voter turnout is due to the apathy of the middle class which is directly impacting the party. In the last Assembly elections, the BJP got 33 per cent vote share. The party leaders believe that it was difficult to motivate people and bring them out to the polling booth. The booth workers were instructed to ensure high voter turnout and the MPs were asked to keep an eye on their work. Despite all the efforts, the voter turnout was recorded 5 per cent less as compared to the previous Assembly elections.
Party strategists are trying to figure out if the people have voted for regularisation of the unauthorised colonies or free water and free power scheme of Arvind Kejriwal. Party leaders also believe that the scheme of ‘Jahan jhuggi, wahin makaan’ (Homes in place of slums) did not reach the public properly. Rumours were spread about the implementation of this scheme. A senior Delhi BJP leader said the AAP cadres spread rumours about the scheme among the public saying that they will lose the ownership of their original houses. The BJP has not spoken out openly on the low voter turnout but has certainly dismissed the exit polls results, which indicate AAP’s victory.
Not as planned
Senior BJP leaders believe that the scheme of ‘Jahan jhuggi, wahin makaan’ (Homes in place of slums) did not reach the public properly. Rumours were spread about the implementation of this scheme which backfired.