BJP plan nukkad sabhas at polling stations to woo voters

NEW DELHI: A day after BJP chief Amit Shah asked party members to intensify election preparations, the state unit has started its groundwork. On Wednesday, Union ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Rajiv Pratap Rudy met state members and MPs from Delhi to plan nukkad sabhas with 300-odd MPs between December 1 and 20.

BJP sources say the plan is to hold nukkad sabhas at all 2,700 polling stations and each will be addressed by an MP. This time, BJP is carrying out an extensive drive to connect with voters, even in areas which are not considered to be its stronghold. "Each MP will address 3-4 sabhas and tell people about the work done by BJP at the Centre and what the party will do when it comes to power," said a senior BJP member.

South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri has been made in-charge of the coordination team which will finalize the schedule for each MP. After attending Parliament session, MPs will hold meetings in areas depending on the voter base. "In areas where there is a high percentage of Poorvanchali voters, we will send our MPs from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh," said a member.

Wednesday's meeting was attended by Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay, state in-charge Prabhat Jha, all MPs from Delhi except Manoj Tiwari, and the state's general secretary.

Banking on the 'Modi wave', BJP is optimistic of returning to power in Delhi after a gap of 16 years.

Senior BJP members say the party's defeat in its strongholds, like Shalimar Bagh, Model Town, Shakur Basti, etc in 2013 assembly elections resulted in their failure to form a government. "We were short of four seats. We lost some of our strongholds, but this time we have set our target at 60," said Upadhyay.