Purvanchal factor to weigh on BJP’S list
NEW DELHI: With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the process of finalising its list of candidates for the December 4 municipal corporation elections in Delhi, senior party leaders on Friday said residents from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh (popularly known as Purvanchalis in Delhi) and Uttarakhand regions will be “adequately represented” in the list.
“It is an important vote bank, which plays a decisive role in 30-35 assembly constituencies. Over the past few years, the BJP has taken various measures to reach out to the community and strengthen its support-base in the community. Like last time, the BJP will give due respect to the community in ticket distribution,” said a senior BJP functionary, who asked not to be named.
According to BJP leaders, of the 250 municipal wards in Delhi, nearly 80 have a sizable presence of people from Purvanchal and Uttarakhand.
BJP MLA and Delhi BJP spokesperson Abhay Verma, who is from the Purvanchal region, said, “The demographic profile of the city has changed over the years. The Purvanchali community plays a decisive role in elections now.”
A sizable population of Purvanchalis live in unauthorised colonies and slums, and the BJP has been trying to reach out to them in door-to-door campaigns and by showcasing central government schemes such as the ‘Jahan Jhuggi-wahan Makan’ rehabilitation scheme for residents of slums.
BJP president JP Nadda held a meeting with senior leaders of the party’s Delhi unit on Wednesday to discuss the party’s strategy for the polls, including picking candidates.
The party has tasked 29 leaders, including its national general secretary Vinod Tawde, IT cell chief Amit Malviya, and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha president and MP Tejasvi Surya, to interact with party leaders at the mandal and district level, as well as former councillors and legislators to identify the candidates for 250 municipal wards.
The BJP has governed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for three consecutive terms, and hopes to win a fourth to maintain its sway in the local political landscape, after a string of defeats in the assembly polls over the years.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the BJP’S principal opposition in the Delhi MCD polls, is looking to capitalise on the city’s sanitation mess and allegations of corruption in the civic bodies.
The party fielded 18 Purvanchali candidates in the 2012 municipal elections. The party also appointed Bhojpuri actorturned-politician Manoj Tiwari as its Delhi unit chief in 2016.
In 2017, the saffron party almost doubled the number of candidates fielded in the city’s municipal elections to 34.
The BJP won 181 seats in the 2017 municipal elections — 38 more than in 2012.
The number of wards then was 272 (this number was whittled down to 250 after the city’s three civic bodies were unified earlier this year)
The party did well in the Burari, Karawal Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Matiala, Seemapuri, Laxmi Nagar and Uttam Nagar assembly constituencies, all of which have a significant Purvanchali population.
Another BJP leader, who is also from the Purvanchal region, said, “In the past two municipal elections, giving tickets to Purvanchali candidates helped the party. We hope the party will give more tickets to people from the community, compared to the previous polls.”