As the poll gong has been struck in Delhi, after the Election Commission announced voting for February 8, the AAP, BJP and the Congress have shifted gears to prepare for the upcoming battle royale.
While the BJP and Congress have usually stuck to mass rallies in show of support, the Aam Aadmi Party’s strategy has been quite the opposite as it conducts small mohalla meetings and door-to-door campaigning.
This time around, the BJP has decided to take a cue from the ruling party in Delhi and focus more on small gatherings, in what is been seeing as a huge departure from mammoth rallies, ostentatious hoardings, posters and banners.
During the 2013 and 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, AAP, which was debuting in the political arena, was a much smaller party as compared to the BJP and the Congress.
Hence, instead of holding large-scale rallies, which require more manpower, funds and logistics, AAP had restricted itself to holding small meetings at different localities, or mohallas. As a part of their election campaign, AAP leaders and workers visited each mohalla, gated and ungated localities, took out small processions and distributed pamphlets.
The strategy has evidently worked in their favour, with AAP getting 28 seats in 2013 and emerging as the second largest party, after BJP with 31 seats. The Congress was a distant third with only eight seats.
Even in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, the AAP swept 67 of 70 seats, while BJP got the remaining three. The Congress failed to open its account.
Seemingly taking cognizance of this, BJP President Amit Shah spelt out the tweaked strategy at the booth workers meeting in the national capital on January 5, The Times of India has reported.
At the meeting he said, “We do not have to fight the election with public meetings, rallies, big hoardings and posters. We have to fight it by visiting every house and by holding small mohalla meetings.”
Shah appealed to party leaders and workers, including district presidents, mandal chiefs, councillors, current and former MLAs and MPs, to approach each and every person in Delhi with a picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the lotus symbol, the newspaper reported.
Shah mentioned that even though hoardings will be put up and senior leaders like PM Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari will hold rallies, yet he will launch the election campaign by holding meetings in each and every mohalla.
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