Narendra Modi to kickstart BJP’s poll campaign in Delhi tomorrow

New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will kickstart BJP’s campaign for the upcoming Delhi assembly polls at a mega rally here tomorrow which will also be attended by a battery of top leaders including chief ministers of Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra where the party captured power in recent elections.

Modi will be the face of BJP’s campaign in the city and the party feels the rally will help it build a momentum for the election.

BJP has been out of power in Delhi for the past 16 years and its Delhi chief Satish Upadhyay said the party was confident of winning the polls with a clear majority this time with the help of Modi’s charisma.

BJP president Amit Shah, national general (organisation) Ram Lal, Union ministers Arun Jaitely, M Venkaiah Naidu and Piyush Goyal will share the dais with Modi besides the seven party MPs from Delhi.

BJP has made a sitting arrangement of around 60,000 people at the venue, even as it has claimed that over one lakh people will be attending the rally.

“We are very confident that Delhiites will get a stable government by BJP after the polls. The rally will help in building the momentum for the party’s victory,” BJP’s national vice president in-charge of Delhi Prabhat Jha said.

Asked if Modi will announce a full statehood for Delhi in tomorrow’s rally, Jha said, “We have already said in our manifesto that if BJP comes to power, we will make Delhi a full state. Let us first come to power, we will definitely work on it.”

Senior BJP leaders said that through Modi’s rally, party will also gauge the public mood which will help it prepare a strong-strategy for the assembly polls.

“We are very sure that BJP will definitely get the support of people in the upcoming Assembly polls as we got in Lok Sabha polls. The focus of this rally will only be development,” Upadhyay said.

All senior leaders will seek support of Delhiites for the upcoming Assembly elections.

To woo minority voters, BJP has also set a target of bringing around 8,000-9,000 Muslims to the rally tomorrow.

“We want more people from minority community to attend the rally of Modi ji under whose leadership, our country is developing well. We are expecting around 8,000-9,000 Muslims to attend the rally,” said Atif Rasheed, president of BJP’s Minority Morcha.

All district presidents have been asked by the party to arrange at least 15 buses full of people for the rally. BJP has also installed hoardings ‘Chalo Chale Modi Ke Saath’ across the national capital to draw more people to the venue.

At the venue, LCD screens have been installed so that people can watch Modi while delivering speech.

The reunification of the trifurcated Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was on the BJP poll manifesto and could be one such decision.

The saffron party is leaving no stone unturned to return to power. Last December, as many as 200 party’s MPs held corner meetings (nukkad sabhas) across the capital.

In order to woo voters in the upcoming assembly election, Delhi BJP has also decided to bank on celebrity MPs Hema Malini, Shatrughan Sinha, Vinod Khanna and Smriti Irani who will be addressing rallies in the city.

According to a senior BJP leader, the party has so far prepared a list of 18 star campaigners to draw voters during campaigning. The list also includes the names of Modi and Shah.

“Party wants to beat AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal’s rallies and BJP hopes that its celebrity MPs would be able to draw more voters during election campaigning,” a senior BJP leader said.

Special traffic arrangements for PM’s rally in Delhi

In view of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally in the national capital tomorrow, the Delhi Traffic Police have made elaborate arrangements for the smooth movement of vehicles in the city.

Police have advised commuters going to New Delhi Railway Station, Old Delhi Railway Station and ISBT to start early with sufficient time in hand for absorbing possible delays in the routes.

No commercial vehicles will be allowed from Delhi Gate and Rajghat to JLN Marg, from Kamla Market to Ajmeri Gate, DDU Minto light point towards Kamla Market, Lahori Gate towards Ajmeri Gate on Shraddhanand Marg and Barakhamba Tolstoy towards Guru Nanak Chowk, they said.

“Buses coming from North and West Delhi and bound for Ajmeri Gate and beyond will be diverted on Rani Jhansi Road.

“Besides, people wanting to go to New Delhi Railway Station from east and north Delhi should take IP Marg, DDU Marg to reach Ajmeri Gate or Paharganj side of New Delhi Railway Station,” a senior official said.

The official also said that buses coming from South and bound for the Red Fort will be allowed up to Red Fort. After terminating, they will go back via Subhash Marg, New Darya Ganj Road and Ring Road.

Buses coming from the south for railway station will be diverted on Ring Road from the ISBT Main Gate.

He said buses on route number 729 will terminate at Minto Road Terminal and will go back via Minto Road. Buses on route number 505 will be send back via Vivekananda Marg.

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