Ahead of polls: Delhi BJP reaches out to Dalits through community meals
NEW DELHI: Seeking a stronger connect with Dalit voters in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP is holding ‘Samrasta Bhoj’ (social harmony feast) in the 12 reserved assembly constituencies spread across six parliamentary seats in Delhi. The SC Morcha of the Delhi unit of the party, that had successfully organised the ‘Bhim Mahasangam’ rally at Ramlila ground here last month, is reaching out to the Dalit voters in the 12 reserved assembly constituencies through the ‘Samrasta Bhoj’, said morcha president Mohanlal Gihara. The reserved assembly constituencies, including Trilokpuri, Kondli, Seemapuri, Gokalpur, Ambedkar Nagar and Deoli, among others, will be covered under the programme, seeking support for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls, he said.
These 12 constituencies fall under North East Delhi, New Delhi, East Delhi, North West Delhi, South Delhi and West Delhi Lok Sabha seats. Delhi has a total of seven Lok Sabha seats. t is pertinent to men- tioned that since constitution of Delhi Assembly 1993, only one Dalit face was elected as legislator, presently not single MLA from Dalit Community in BJP. “We are holding these ‘Samrasta Bhoj’ programmes to reach out to the Dalit voters, (to tell them) how their interests have been served under the Modi government through different welfare schemes,” Gihara said.
“We have lined up Union ministers Thawar Chand Gehlot, Krishna Raj, Harsh Vardhan and Vijay Goel to participate in these events,” he said.
A day before a ‘Samrasta Bhoj’ is held, the workers of the BJP’S SC Morcha distribute flyers, asking locals to attend the event.the highlight of the ‘Samrasta Bhoj’ is ‘khichdi’ cooked from leftover rice and pulses that were collected for the “Bheem Mahasangam” rally, he said.
A world record was set by cooking 5,000 kg of ‘samarasta khichdi’ using rice and pulses collected from around three lakh Dalit households in Delhi. The leftover rice and pulses are now used for cooking ‘khichdi’ at ‘Samarasta Bhoj’, he added.