�New Delhi:�The BJP launched an unprecedented and extensive campaign across election-bound Delhi on Tuesday, holding 43 rallies. Leading the charge were Union home minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to follow up with a public meeting on Wednesday.
Mr Modi is slated to address a public meeting at Yamun Khadar themed as “Viksit Dilli Sankalp rally" on Wednesday. In all, Mr Modi will hold three rallies in the city ahead of the February 5 polls.
Mr Shah held a roadshow and addressed two public meetings, Mr Adityanath addressed three public meetings in support of BJP candidates. Rajasthan chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma sought voters' support for party candidates in four public meetings while Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini addressed three.
After holding a roadshow in Kasturba Nagar in support of BJP candidate Neeraj Basoya, Mr Shah addressed the public in the Kalkaji constituency, where BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri is contesting against chief minister Atishi and Congress leader Alka Lamba.
Mr Shah accused AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal of falsely alleging that the Haryana government mixed poison in the Yamuna and dared the AAP supremo to make public the DJB report that he cited to level the charge.
Noting the AAP chief had also claimed that he saved the people of Delhi by stopping the "poisonous" Yamuna water from entering Delhi, Mr Shah asked him to show the official order issued in this regard. "Kejriwal ji, winning and losing are part of the election process. Making an innocent face, you accused the Haryana government of mixing poison (in the Yamuna) and tried to scare the people of Delhi. Politics cannot get dirtier than this," he charged.
Mr Shah alleged that AAP leaders were liars and said no one could match Mr Kejriwal when it came to breaking promises. “February 5 is a very big opportunity for the people of Delhi to get rid of this 'AAPda'. Vote for the BJP, make Ramesh Bidhuri win (from the Kalkaji seat). Kalkaji will be made No 1 in Delhi,” he told the gathering later he campaigned for party’s candidate Narayan Dutt Sharma in Badarpur seat.
Upping the ante, Mr Adityanath dubbed Delhi's ruling AAP a "symbol of corruption and anarchy" and urged people in the national capital to vote for a "double-engine government" of the BJP. Launching a blistering attack, the UP chief minister said AAP’s "jhadu" election symbol should be forfeited for pushing the capital into a civic mess.
Mr Adityanath addressed three rallies in Mangolpur, Vikaspuri and Rajinder Nagar, criticising Mr Kejriwal over the "stinking Yamuna" and accusing the AAP of making Delhiites thirst for water. “Sometimes I wonder if the party is possessed by the spirit of Aurangzeb,” he remarked.
“If you had moral courage, you would have taken a dip in the Yamuna, along with ministers of the AAP government,” Mr Adityanath said, referring to a recent dip he had taken at the Sangam in Prayagraj during the ongoing Maha Kumbh.
He also charged that the party spread "anarchy" by "sheltering" Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators. “AAP committed 'sin' by providing Aadhaar to Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators in south Delhi's Okhla,” he said.
“AAP's public representatives and office-bearers forcefully occupied hundreds of acres of land of the Uttar Pradesh government's irrigation department near Jamia Nagar and settled Bangladeshi and Rohingya infiltrators," he added.
When the land was not vacated despite repeated warnings, Mr Adityanath said he sent the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and bulldozers and, with the Delhi police's help, cleared the land.
Mr Adityanath alleged that civic amenities and infrastructure had collapsed in Delhi and people from the city were settling in Noida and Ghaziabad — both in Uttar Pradesh — for better facilities.
Actor-turned-politician and Lok Sabha Members Manoj Tiwari and Ravi Kishan had addressed five and three public meetings respectively seeking votes for saffron party candidates.
Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri, Manohar Lal Khattar, Giriraj Singh, Sukanta Majumdar had addressed one, two, three and two public meetings in support of saffron party candidates.
Other prominent leaders, like former Union minister Smriti Irani, member of Parliaments Kiran Choudhary, Bhola Singh, Umesh Nath Maharaj and Pravin Khandelwal, also addressed public meetings in support of BJP candidates.
Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Suvendu Adhikari and Rajasthan deputy chief minister Prem Chandra Bairwa also sought votes for BJP candidates. Former MP Locket Chaterjee, BJP SC wing national president Lal Singh Arya, party spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia also addressed public meetings in different parts of the city.