Lok Sabha elections 2019: Soon, BJP to set up committees to oversee poll campaign in Delhi

The Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party will soon announce a list of committees to oversee the Lok Sabha elections preparations, said Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari. Senior party members say that there has been considerable delay in starting the election preparations in the city. Delhi goes to the polls on May 12.

Also, unlike its two rivals -- the AAP and the Congress -- the BJP is yet to announce its candidates to the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi. While AAP has announced its nominees to all the seats, the Congress nameds its candidates to four seats on Thursday evening.

Though the party has organised various campaigns and events such as the Ayushman March, public meetings by senior leaders, live interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP members say, campaigning in a planned manner at the ground level is yet to kick-start.

In 2014, the then Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan had formed committees to oversee the financial management, election campaign, road shows, prepare the Delhi specific manifesto, etc. “There has been a considerable delay in forming the committees. By now, the system should have been in place. There is lack of coordination between state unit and the party workers,” said a senior BJP leader.

But Manoj Tiwari refuted the claim and said, “There is no delay. We are working on various campaigns. We will form the committees by April 13. Our party workers are already in the field campaign for the party.”

Some party members also pointed out that senior party leaders are not actively participating. For instance, the Delhi BJP organised a conference on Wednesday to reach out to the traders’ community, which is considered a traditional BJP vote bank. However, three senior leaders from the community — Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Goel and Vijender Gupta — were not present. A senior leader, requesting anonymity said, they were not informed about the event.

According to senior leaders, the campaign will pick up after the selection of the candidates.