Delhi Assembly polls: BJP checking preparedness with 'Parivartan Yatra'

The ongoing 'Delhi Bachao Parivartan Yatra' will help the BJP galvanise its cadre and assess the organisational preparedness for the Assembly election due early next year, a party leader said on Saturday.

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari launched the outreach campaign on Thursday. The stated goal of the campaign is to "expose" the alleged failures of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government led by Arvind Kejriwal and seek public support to install a BJP dispensation in the national capital.

However, BJP leaders said that through the campaign, the party is focussing on strengthening ties with workers in every corner of the city.

Tiwari said besides "exposing" the "poor show" of the AAP government in past five years, the campaign would pay attention to BJP workers and their preparedness for the Assembly election.

The party is aiming to mobilise all workers in a particular area so that it can be verified if they have renewed their membership in the latest drive, said Delhi BJP media relationship head Neelkant Bakshi.

In its membership drive that concluded earlier this month, the Delhi unit claimed to have added over 1.7 million people to the party-fold.

The Delhi BJP president and other senior leaders are scheduled to visit all the 14 districts and 70 Assembly constituencies during the drive that will conclude by September-end.

Bakshi said that in order to ensure quick galvanisation of party leaders and workers in the districts, the schedule of the yatra has not been announced beforehand.

"Thus, its easy to check how quickly and in what numbers party leaders and workers can assemble in an area after the yatra reaches there. This is a crucial element of the campaign to ascertain preparedness and efficiency of the organisation to be mobilised for big events like Assembly polls," Bakshi said.

Launching the campaign from outer Delhi's Bhalaswa Dairy area, the Delhi BJP president had attacked the Kejriwal government over a host of issues, including regularisation of unauthorised colonies and non-implementation of Ayushman Bharat health scheme of the Modi government.

Besides these issues, it is being ensured that local issues such as lack of civic amenities, inadequate water and electricity supply, waterlogging, poor roads and streets are also prominently taken up, Bakshi said.

Tiwari asserted people are eager to go with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ensure victory of the the party in Delhi because it has suffered during the five years of the Kejriwal government.

The BJP was vanquished by the AAP which won 67 of the 70 Assembly seats in Delhi in 2015 elections. The BJP managed to win just three seats, and Congress drew a blank.

The Aam Aadmi Party has hit back at the BJP, saying its three leaders, including Tiwari, were involved in a race to become the next chief minister of Delhi and were "obstructing" pro-people schemes of the Kejriwal government.