New Delhi: With just a day left for the MCD bypoll campaigning to end, BJP on Thursday continued to reach out to the voters in 12 wards through its intensive, hyper-local outreach model. BJP functionaries said they had shifted from large public gatherings and rallies to targeted, neighbourhood-level engagement to maximise the party’s gain in this “small-but-decisive” byelection on Nov 30.Senior BJP functionaries said the party was eyeing at least 10 seats to consolidate its hold over the 250-member house of Municipal Corporation of Delhi. Although BJP has a majority with 115 councillors, several of them had defected from AAP. A strong result in the bypoll, functionaries said, will give the party a “comfortable and stable” edge ahead of the next mayoral race. AAP now has 99 members while Indraprastha Vikas Party, which has split from it, has 16 councillors and Congress eight.BJP has assigned two wards each to Delhi ministers and asked them to spend more time in these areas. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said voters had witnessed “consistent development in the wards represented by BJP councillors” and the party was confident of sweeping all seats.Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh, a BJP councillor, said the party was approaching the bypoll “more seriously than regular elections”. “Our entire cadre is engaged in door-to-door outreach, taking the achievements of central and state govts as well as of MCD to the public. Our candidates are stronger, so is our organisational functioning,” he added.BJP’s campaign blueprint places special emphasis on swinging localities such as Dakshinpuri, where cadres have been instructed to conduct frequent, small-group interactions with resident associations, traders, youth groups and community members. According to party strategists, this micro-engagement model will help secure undecided voters and more seats will end BJP’s dependence on the influx of defectors, which has influenced the municipal corporation’s power balance in recent months.Congress, meanwhile, has accused BJP of evading accountability on the pre-poll promises made to Delhi residents during the campaign for the assembly election earlier this year. “The truth of BJP’s words and deeds is now clear to people. The party will see the effect of its false promises in the coming elections,” said a functionary.The bypoll covers key wards, including Mundka, Shalimar Bagh B, Ashok Vihar, Chandni Chowk, Dwarka B, Dakshinpuri and Greater Kailash. Of the 12 seats, six are in the general category, five are reserved for women and one is marked for scheduled castes. The vacancies arose after nine BJP and three AAP councillors were elected to Parliament and the assembly.
