New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of multiple projects in Delhi on Friday, in what is being seen as the launch of his campaign in the national capital before it goes to polls next month.
On 5 January, the PM will address a ‘parivartan’ rally from Rohini’s Japanese Park, where he will likely make several political announcements, party leaders told ThePrint. According to a party functionary, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are under instructions to ensure a good turnout at the Sunday rally.
So far, the BJP has indicated it will likely not announce a chief ministerial candidate for Delhi and will instead contest the assembly election under a ‘collective leadership’. Thus, Modi’s rally and announcements assume greater significance.
Sources in the party said the rally, planned for 29 December, was postponed after former PM Manmohan Singh died on 26 December. According to the BJP’s internal surveys, Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) currently has a ‘slight’ edge. However, the BJP believes the trend will start to reverse once Modi kickstarts the campaign for Delhi.
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To begin with, the PM, on 3 January, will hand over 1,675 newly constructed flats for the economically weaker sections at Swabhiman Apartments in Wazirpur, Ashok Vihar, where he will also deliver a public address.
Later on Friday, Modi will lay the foundation stone for three new projects worth over Rs 600 crore at Delhi University. These include an academic block in the eastern campus at Surajmal Vihar in East Delhi, an academic block in the western campus at Dwarka, and the new Veer Savarkar College in Najafgarh’s Roshanpura, with facilities for state-of-the-art education.
“The PM will also inaugurate two urban redevelopment projects—the World Trade Centre at Nauroji Nagar and GPRA (general pool residential accommodation) Type-II Quarters at Sarojini Nagar. Apart from this, he will inaugurate CBSE’s integrated office complex at Dwarka,” said a senior BJP leader, pointing out that the party is not directly involved with organising all that, considering the central government officials are in charge.
A large section of slum-dwellers are known to support the AAP, and the BJP has been trying to reach out to them with a slew of initiatives. Modi giving slum-dwellers in Ashok Vihar the keys to 1,675 Swabhiman flats built by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is a part of that. “Confident” that the move would help connect with slum-dwellers, the Delhi BJP unit has been conducting a door-to-door exercise in the locality, publicising the inauguration of the flats.
Apart from that, the Delhi BJP unit has been organising ‘pravas (night stay)’ involving BJP leaders and workers staying in slums and interacting with people to understand their problems.
While the AAP is trying to set the election agenda in Delhi by announcing welfare initiatives one after the other, the BJP is handing over ‘pucca’ houses to the slum-dwellers to strengthen its political hold.
According to estimates, roughly 20 lakh people live in Delhi’s slums. Though they were traditionally Congress supporters, especially during the tenure of ex-CM Sheila Dikshit, the AAP won them over during the 2013 and 2015 assembly elections through a series of targeted policies, such as mohalla clinics, reduction in power and water bills, and the provision of basic amenities in slum clusters.
Through its ‘pravas’ campaign, the BJP is now trying to gain a foothold in the slums. Led by Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, several leaders took part in the initiative in November last year, covering 250 clusters.
“The Modi government at the Centre has carried out several development and infrastructure-related projects in Delhi. These flats, along with the other projects, are part of our governance plank, and we will highlight all of these further,” a BJP leader said, speaking to ThePrint.
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Campaign to hinge on infrastructure projects
Ashok Vihar’s Swabhiman flats mark the completion of the second successful in-situ slum rehabilitation project by the DDA. The objective, the central government said in a statement, is to provide the residents of JJ clusters in Delhi with a better and healthier living environment equipped with proper amenities and facilities.
“For every Rs 25 lakh spent on construction of a flat by the government, eligible beneficiaries pay less than 7% of the total amount, comprising Rs 1.42 lakh as a nominal contribution and Rs 30,000 for five years of maintenance,” its statement added.
Speaking to ThePrint, BJP leader and campaign incharge Rajiv Babbar said the party plans to take on the AAP head-on.
“Armed with facts and figures, we are exposing the lies being weaved by the AAP and Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi. They are trying to fool the public, but Punjab is an example of what they promised and could not deliver. Our biggest brand, PM Modi will launch the campaign for Delhi from Japanese Park through the 5 January ‘parivartan’ rally. This election, we will witness ‘parivartan (change)’,” he added.
A party source said the PM will likely make political announcements, including one to supersede Kejriwal’s promise to provide a Rs 2,100 monthly allowance to women in Delhi. Moreover, the schemes that are currently in place in Delhi will likely remain if the BJP comes to power. The last time, the BJP announced it would not give ‘freebies’.
“For instance, the power subsidy will remain. At the same time, in the way that we have launched assistance money for women in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra through the ‘Ladki Behen Yojana’, we may launch a similar scheme in Delhi,” said a senior party leader.
At the parliamentary level, the BJP has been successful in Delhi, winning all seven Lok Sabha seats in 2014, 2019, and 2024. However, the assembly results have, mostly, been disappointing, with the party now holding just eight of 70 seats. The AAP won 62 seats in the 2020 elections.
Out of power in Delhi since 1998, the BJP sees the upcoming election as an opportunity to seize the reins in the national capital.
“We have not been in power in Delhi for several years. Despite that, the Centre has launched several projects in Delhi to improve the living conditions of Delhiites, mainly infrastructure projects, such as the Dwarka expressway, Delhi Metro, housing, etc. Delhi BJP will be highlighting this ahead of the election,” added the leader.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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