18-member working group to improve party’s image’: BJP
Gearing up for the municipal polls to be held after 18 months in the national capital, Delhi BJP has decided to form an 18member working group or committee to suggest works to be done to improve the party’s image among the electorate and to counter AAP.
BJP national vice president and city unit incharge Shyam Jaju told this newspaper that the working group will be led by three senior party leaders and include five senior members each from the party ruled three municipal corporations.
The names of the three leaders will be announced soon as well as the names of mayor, deputy mayor, chairman and deputy chairman of the standing committee, and Leader of the House of the three corporations.
Mr Jaju said that the corporation is doing lots of good and providing civic service on a day to day basis and this working group will focus on suggesting value addition to works done for improving perception and image makeover.
BJP, which is ruling the civic bodies for three consecutive terms, is facing severe criticism from AAP for poor civic infrastructure and corruption in the municipal corporations.
Recently, BJP ruled North Corporation threatened to file defamation case against AAP MLA
Raghav Chadha and Atishi Marlena for labelling baseless allegations of corruption.
In the last civic elections in 2017, BJP won for the third consecutive time by winning 181 of the 272 municipal wards in the city. The AAP managed to win in around 50 wards. The next election of the municipal corporations is due in April 2022.
The AAP, in recent times, has been quite vocal in raising civic issues and attacking the BJP for its alleged failures in ruling the three municipal corporations. AAP leaders have been slamming the municipal corporations over a range of issues including corruption, taxes, management of cowsheds (gaushalas), and civic amenities.
In view of the approaching corporation elections, the AAP has also announced restructuring of its Delhi unit.