With less than a fortnight left for the polls, the BJP has stepped up its last-minute efforts to woo migrant voters in Delhi. The party is focusing on voters from Purvanchal regions of UP and Bihar, Marathi and Odia voters, among others.
BJP has formed a team of 200 party leaders from UP and Bihar to campaign in areas dominated by Purvanchali voters. Former BJP MP Harish Dwivedi has been made the convenor of this group of leaders.There are around 40 lakh Purvanchali voters in Delhi having a strong presence in 17-20 assembly seats. The party has given four tickets to leaders from Purvanchal in Laxmi Nagar, Kiradi, Sangam Vihar and Vikaspuri.There were several claimants for a few other seats which the party had denied. The leaders are now being deployed to manage the unhappy leaders.
On Thursday, a meeting of BJP leaders from Purvanchal will take place in Delhi which will also be attended by BJP general secretary, organisation, BL Santhosh. During the meeting, the party will discuss the strategy to pacify the angry Purvanchal leaders over ticket distribution and how to send out a positive message among voters.
Post the Lok Sabha election, the Delhi BJP formed a Marathi cell in Delhi. “There are around 3.5 lakh Marathi voters in Delhi but they are scattered over several constituencies,” Santosh Gangan, a BJP leader from Maharashtra who worked among Marathi voters during the Lok Sabha polls, told ET. “We have tried to unite them as a community so that they can have their political say and presence like other communities in the state.”From Thursday, apart from Karad, Union minister Nitin Gadkari, Union minister of state Murlidhar Mohol and a few other leaders will start campaigning in Marathi-dominated areas.”Some of the areas like Pitampura, East Delhi and New Delhi have several societies and colonies where the Marathi population is higher. Our leaders will address small public meetings in these areas,” Mahendra Ladda told ET.