New Delhi: With the Bharatiya Janata Party’s internal survey indicating that nearly 30 per cent of Delhi’s voters are “undecided”, the party high command has asked its leaders and functionaries to reach out to this particular section. The party also feels that the ongoing anti-CAA/NRC protests at Shaheen Bagh are going to benefit the party “electorally” since it is “polarising the votes.”
The party, thus, plans to unleash a propaganda blitz to reach out to the “undecided” voters by targeting the political parties that, they claim, are “creating confusion over CAA and NRC.” Besides this, the party will also hold small meetings across the city and make people aware of “Modi’s good governance” and “Kejriwal’s bad governance”.
A senior BJP functionary told this newspaper that 30 per cent of voters being undecided is an unusual trend and is an indication of strong “anti-incumbency” sentiment.
“The party’s central leadership believes that it can make maximum gains by reaching out to the undecided voters, and that they will swing the February 8 Delhi Assembly polls in our favour. So the state leadership has been directed to reach out to these 30 per cent voters who have not made up their mind yet,” he added.
Sources said that Union home minister Amit Shah is keeping a close eye on the party’s activities and taking a daily report from the state leadership. It is learnt that Mr Shah reviews progress almost everyday and party insiders say that the frequency of his visit to the state office has increased.
“From this week a daily review meeting was held in the evenings at Delhi BJP headquarters and Mr Shah was present in all these meetings,” he added. In these review meetings held late evening, BJP president J.P. Nadda, national general secretary Bhupender Yadav and other senior leaders also join Mr Shah.
In one such meeting it was discussed that a survey report shows the BJP leading comfortably, and winning over large chunks of the undecided voters will ensure a comfortable majority.
As the countdown begins for February 8 polls, the BJP has launched “carpet bombing” of small meetings by its leaders across the national capital. January 27 onwards, about 250 leaders of the party will address 1,000 small meeting daily across the city for the next 10 days. In the last three days, the BJP has organised around 800 small public meetings.
In an indication of the party giving a “Hindutva” twist to Delhi Assembly polls, leaders have been asked to attack the AAP and Congress for creating confusion and misleading people over CAA-NRC and backing the ongoing Shaheen Bagh protest.
In their speeches, Mr Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda have been regularly mentioning CAA and NRC and blaming AAP and Congress for creating confusion over the new legislation.
A section in state BJP believes that the ongoing protest at Shaheen Bagh is polarising voters in their favour. Addressing online volunteers on Saturday, Mr Shah spoke of appealing to voters to press the “Lotus” (the BJP’s symbol) so that the people of Shaheen Bagh are forced to leave on the evening of February 8.
“We want a Delhi that is pollution free, world class infrastructure and free of Shaheen Bagh,” Mr Shah added.
A party insider said that a massive online campaign has been launched to influence the fence sitters (undecided voters). Over 30,000 social media warriors have started promoting the BJP’s messages on different social media platforms. Even Mr Shah acknowledged the importance of social media at the online volunteers’ meet and called them “Cyber Yodha”.
