Agencies/New Delhi
The Bharatiya Janata Party said yesterday it would not issue a manifesto for next month’s Delhi assembly elections, adding a vision document will be released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi.
“The BJP will not have a manifesto for Delhi. We will have a vision document which will be released by the prime minister and Kiran Bedi,” senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar said here.
Sources said the BJP is skipping the manifesto as there is no clarity about the issues to be taken up in the party document, including full statehood for Delhi. A draft manifesto had been prepared but it was put on hold after Bedi’s induction into the party.
Ananth Kumar also said Modi would address four rallies in the capital on January 31, February 1, 3 and 4.
According to the sources, BJP president Amit Shah will review the campaigning on a daily basis, and also take in to account the response garnered.
The sources added that 12 MPs would be campaigning for the upcoming polls and 250 public meetings would be held in the next seven to eight days across the 70 assembly constituencies.
Ananth Kumar also said that in each seat, more than 1,000 party posters would be put up.
“We will do all that it takes, and win by a two-third majority,” he said.
Meanwhile the party has brought in 22 of its top central ministers to take charge of the campaign, which has fallen into disarray under a divided state unit.
With just eight days of campaigning left for the February 7 elections, the central leadership wants to quell dissenting voices, restore order and ensure rallies and roadshows are well attended.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is preparing the government’s first full budget in February, visited the Delhi BJP’s Pandit Pant Marg office on Wednesday.
Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was also there, holding a meeting with the party’s media and publicity co-ordinators, the sources said.
Addressing a press conference, Meenakshi Lekhi, the BJP MP from New Delhi, outlined what the central government had achieved on women’s safety and the measures it planned to take if voted to power.
The 22 ministers, aided by senior BJP leaders, have also been asked to publicise eight issues shortlisted by the party - power and water, education, health, skills development and IT, housing, transport, Yamuna river and welfare measures for the Purvanchal community.
The team includes Rajnath Singh (home), Smriti Irani (human resource development), J P Nadda (health), Nitin Gadkari (transport), Ravi Shankar Prasad (telecom), Piyush Goyal (power), Radha Mohan Singh (farm) and Rajiv Pratap Rudy (skills development).
Besides, 17 MPs - including Lekhi - will hit the campaign trail and speak on various issues every day.
BJP chief ministers including M L Khattar (Haryana) and Shivraj Singh Chauhan (Madhya Pradesh) and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal of the Akali Dal will also pitch in.
A senior BJP leader said the move was largely aimed at bringing back order to the Delhi office, which saw ugly protests by ticket aspirants and supporters of state chief Satish Upadhyay following Kiran Bedi’s induction and elevation as chief ministerial candidate.
“There is lack of co-ordination at the state level that reflects in our candidates’ rallies and roadshows. There have even been instances when party workers weren’t aware of the CM candidate’s programme, leading to poor turnout. The senior leadership will plug the gaps,” said another senior leader.
The party has also decided not to bank solely on Bedi as she has to focus on her constituency, the sources said. Irani and her colleagues Sushma Swaraj and Uma Bharti have already started holding rallies in the city. Such rallies, roadshows and public meetings by senior ministers will pick up in the days to come, they added.
