NEW DELHI: After BJP candidate Rajesh Bhatia’s defeat in Rajinder Nagar election, questions were being raised on the BJP’s state unit leadership. AAP MLADurgesh Pathak won the seat with a huge margin of over 11,000 votes. It was a sixth bypoll defeat for the saffron party in the national capital in two years under the leadership of Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta.
Many questioned Gupta’s leadership citing his “failure” to reach out to voters and the “increasing gap between the cadres and the party itself”. According to a senior party leader, the unit will hold a meeting to evaluate the reasons for the defeat. “The approach was not right. The party focused on star campaigners and adding big names to the list for roadshows instead of reaching out to the public and addressing their issues,” said the senior leader.
In March 2021, bypolls were held for five municipal wards in the city. The AAP won four, Congress won one while the BJP registered a zero. However, Gupta, who was not available for a comment on the same in a tweet said, “We are thankful to the people of Rajinder Nagar and accept their mandate. We worked hard and our workers will come out with even more strength next time.”
The state unit had 40 star campaigners who took out various rallies with senior functionaries such as national party chief J P Nadda among others. Bhatia thanking the voters said, “Winning and losing is a part of life. We fought a tough battle with dedication. Contesting an election against the ruling party’s candidate is tough and we still did well.”
Another member blamed the defeat on the misplaced focus. “The party just focused on holding big events, distributing pamphlets while the real work of connecting with its own workers on ground and helping people with their problems was not done,” he said.
He added that the party lost even after running a “Pol Khol Abhiyan” against the AAP where party’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal himself admitted the problem of water shortage in the city. Many said that they were not able to reach out to the state president. “There is only limited access. If we are not able to put our problems ahead, how will we reach out to the voters?” he said.
The members also said that the voter turnout was less in upscale Punjabi-dominated areas like Old Rajinder Nagar and New Rajinder Nagar in comparison to JJ clusters and rural segments in the area. Bhatia, a Punjabi, had a larger support base in upscale neighbourhoods while Pathak, a Purvanchali, got more support from other areas.
‘BJP failed to reach out to voters’
It was the sixth bypoll defeat for the BJP in the city in two years under the leadership of Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta. Many questioned Gupta’s leadership citing his “failure” to reach out to voters and the “increasing gap between the cadres and the party itself”. The unit will soon evaluate the reasons for the loss.