BJP plans mega outreach at all illegal colonies
Our government has done what present and the previous governments couldn’t do. We have planned a month long signature campaign in these colonies which will culminate in a mega rally at the Ramlila Maidan to thank the PM.
SHYAM JAJU , BJP leader
NEW DELHI: Gearing up for the assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to hold a mega rally at Ramlila Grounds in December to thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Centre’s decision to confer ownership rights to residents of unauthorised colonies.
The decision approved by the Union cabinet last month will give relief to almost 4 million residents in 1,728 such colonies and makes them eligible to apply for loans on such plots and make property transactions easier.
Ahead of the rally, the party has planned a month-long campaign to reach out to people in these colonies.
Delhi BJP in-charge Shyam Jaju said that from November 7 to November 30, BJP workers will visit unauthorised colonies and tell them about the Centre’s decision.
Calling the decision a “masterstroke”, Jaju said, “Our government has done what present and the previous governments couldn’t do. We have planned a month long signature campaign in these colonies which will culminate in a mega rally at the Ramlila Maidan to thank the PM. We will ask people to sign to show their support to the PM.”
During its door-to-door campaign, the BJP has prepared a slogan attacking the rival parties: “Congress ne 15 saal bhatkaya, Kejriwal ne panch saal atkaya, Modi sarkar ne 100 din mein kar ke dikhaya (the Congress misled you for 15 years, Kejriwal got the process stalled for five years, but the Modi government took the decision in the first 100 days) is the BJP’S slogan for this special drive.)”
“We will distribute pamphlets which will have these slogans along with the list of benefit which will be extended to people in these colonies. Now people will not only be able to register their property with the government but also take loans. The civic agencies and the members of Parliament will be able to spend funds on development projects. We have to tell people about all these things,” said Jaju.
With assembly elections scheduled next year, the BJP is hoping to make inroads in unauthorised colonies, which were once considered Congress strongholds but lately supported the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi.
These colonies played a decisive role in AAP’S victory in the 2015 assembly elections.
Regularisation of unauthorised colonies has been an election issue for over a decade. In 2008, the Congress government in Delhi has distributed provisional certificates to 1,218 unauthorised colonies. Regularisation of unauthorised colonies has been one of the top promises of all the three political parties in the city in every election. Even after the Centre’s decision, however, senior government officials said the benefits would reach the people after February as he Centre would have to pass a Bill in this regard in Parliament next, and then the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which owns the land, will have to conduct a survey.
“It has been promised so many times by past governments that people have lost faith that it will ever be done. We have to go and tell people that this is finally happening. The Centre has taken a huge step in this direction and within months the process will start,” he said.