NEW DELHI: Amid the polling commotion outside the Salwan GSS School in Old Rajinder Nagar, two girls clad in white with saffron scarves around their necks caught everyone’s attention. They were visibly keeping watch on the polling station. They were twin daughters of BJP candidate Rajesh Bhatia, Swati Bhatia and Megha Bhatia. The 28-year-olds were given charge of visiting all polling booths on the D-day. Swati Bhatia, a professional fashion designer, donned a lotus (BJP party symbol) designed on the back of her shirt.
During the course of the election, both the sisters had taken a break from their job to help their father’s campaign by taking charge of the digital front. “We supported our father through social media campaigning. Both of us created Instagram reels, videos for YouTube and constantly posted on Twitter requesting voters to vote for our father,” exclaimed Swati.
Second sister Megha, who is a lawyer by profession and also runs an NGO for Child Rights, said, “We recorded a video of minors who were used to distribute Aam Aadmi Party pamphlets for a paltry hundred rupees. That video received thousands of views and it was shared by more than 100 people.” She added, “We also debunked a video, in which AAP members were claiming that my father is a Pakistani. They even claimed that it is a refugee colony. It was a dubious claim. My father was born and bought in this area. Unlike AAP’s Raghav Chadda, my father will always stay in Rajinder Nagar.”
Besides managing digital campaign, the sister duo also took part in physical rallies and door-to-door drives in the constituency to woo the young voters. Swati stated, “Youngsters play important role in nation-building. They have entrepreneurship skills and the government must ensure that they are encouraged to hone such skills so that they can move ahead on their own. Giving freebies will mar their future.”
On the question of taking up politics as the future, Swati replied, “We have never thought about politics as a career. However, we can assure you that we will continue to serve the people of Rajinder Nagar. We also suggested the idea to set up a silai kendra (sewing centre) in the area to help poor women learn sewing skills and earn for their families.”