BJP kickstarts campaign in Delhi

The BJP has taken a plunge for the next big challenge in Delhi where civic elections in April are giving saffron corporators jitters as they face huge anti-incumbency and performance issues.
BJP president Amit Shah’s strategy, as outlined in his first rally on Saturday, is to highlight “corruption” that, he said, has flourished in the Delhi government under AAP. To beat anti-incumbency against its own corporators, the party has decided to field new faces as it attempts to aim at power in the three bodies for third time in a row.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a counter punch and said on Saturday that AAP will waive off house tax which was a source of corruption in the BJP-ruled corporation if it is voted to power in the April 23 polls. The civic polls will be the first test of the AAP government’s popularity since it did not do well in Goa and Punjab.

Kicking off the BJP’s poll campaign in the national capital, Shah accused Kejriwal of picking up fights with the Modi government for political reasons. “The AAP has indulged in corruption like no other party has in such a short time. His (Kejriwal) principal secretary was arrested by the CBI. There was graft in procuring onions, in appointments in DCW, in procuring water tankers and street lights.

“A minister is involved in hawala. There was scam in waqf board. And most importantly, AAP used Delhi exchequer’s money in Gujarat, Kolkata and other states for putting out advertisements,” Shah said in his address to party workers at the Ramlila ground.

He referred to saffron surge as the BJP formed governments in four — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa — of the five states that went to polls and urged party workers to work hard to ensure hat-trick in civic polls and “uproot” AAP from Delhi. “After 2014, BJP has won nearly everywhere, except Delhi and Bihar. Today, BJP workers will go back with a resolve to plug the gaps so that the BJP’s victory flag is unfurled in the national capital,” he pointed out.

Shah compared what he called BJP’s “clean record” against AAP’s “tainted” regime and pointed out that many of Delhi ruling party’s ministers and legislators were booked on charges of corruption and rape. Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu charged the Delhi government of non-cooperation with the Centre due to which the city was lagging behind in development.