Pitted against a development-centric campaign by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the BJP in Delhi is leaning heavily on its organisational muscle and Hindutva, especially banking on communal mobilisation in the wake of protests against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) in Shaheen Bagh, to improve on its dismal tally of just three seats in the 70-member Assembly.

The BJP does not have a chief ministerial candidate against Arvind Kejriwal who, in different opinion polls, has emerged as the most popular choice for the post. The party’s campaign is thus being chiefly organised by the central leadership with both Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President JP Nadda holding rallies and padyatras through the city. Simultaneously, all Delhi MPs, including the Delhi unit President Manoj Tiwari, are involved in ‘carpet-bombing’ the city with a staggering 700 small and large meetings in a day.

Union Minister Prakash Javdekar, who has been given the charge of election campaign in Delhi, told BusinessLine that in the 14 days left for campaigning, the BJP would have conducted over 9,800 meetings.

Saturation campaign

“We are working in a focussed manner. Every day, there will be 700 small and large meetings in the city. The party cadre is enthused. We are confident of forming government in Delhi,” said Javdekar. While Javdekar talked about regularisation of 1,731 unauthorised colonies, a move set afoot by the Centre last year, and other development measures, the party’s campaigners and other leaders have focused mostly on Hindutva issues and anti-CAA protests.

The BJP has accused AAP and Congress of speaking “Pakistan’s language” in their criticism of the CAA. At public meetings in different parts of the Capital on Thursday, Home Minister Amit Shah said the AAP and the Congress are stoking riots in the city by misleading people on the CAA. He also talked about Ram temple, repeal of Article 370 and the Centre’s stringent measures against those “who raise anti-India slogans”.

Notice to BJP candidate

Kapil Mishra, a BJP candidate from Model Town and a popular campaigner, likened the Delhi polls to an India-versus-Pakistan match in a series of communal tweets. The Election Commission on Friday asked Twitter to remove the controversial tweets. The Delhi CEO Office has also issued a showcause notice to Mishra, who has been fielded by the BJP from the Model Town constituency.

“We took cognisance of the tweet, and wrote to EC last night seeking its removal. The EC then asked Twitter to remove his tweet. The tweet is a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and the Representation of the People Act, so we have taken action,” Delhi CEO Ranbir Singh said. “We have also issued a showcause notice to Kapil Mishra,” he said.

The tweets were, however, in sync with the main theme of the BJP’s campaign in Delhi. “Kejriwal has run away with the freebies narrative. We will have to work on the Hindutva pitch,” an RSS sympathiser told BusinessLine .