Delhi elections 2015: AAP, BJP hunt for votes on Metro

NEW DELHI: The pre-election battle for eyeballs and ears has reached Delhi Metro. For more than 10 days, about 300 volunteers of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have been riding Metro trains and hanging out at busy stations to interact with commuters. Durgesh Pathak, an AAP member, said, "The idea is to discuss and interact with commuters. Our volunteers explain AAP's achievements from its 49 days in government. Questions and discussions are encouraged".

Most of these volunteers are from outside Delhi, from cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai, and have taken a break from work and studies to campaign in Delhi. Wearing AAP caps, they engage riders in conversations that sometimes continue over several stations. Others stand outside stations trying to catch the attention of commuters. Busy stations like Rajiv Chowk, Chandni Chowk, Pragati Maidan, Yamuna Bank and Rajender Nagar are preferred.

"Our volunteers go through orientation programmes before they start campaigning. Some have joined through social media and are put in the evening schedule," said Pathak. AAP office-bearers said the public's response has been "fantastic". "A buzz is getting created because of this campaign form...we've had people speak very positively about AAP after these interactive sessions," he added.

BJP is using advertisements outside Shivaji Park and Dhaula Kuan Metro stations to make an impact. Smaller advertisement panels inside trains reinforce its message. A Delhi Metro official said AAP and BJP are using panels in 30 trains each. The trains run mostly on Yellow (Jahangirpuri-HUDA City Centre) and Blue (Dwarka Sector 21-Noida City Centre/Vaishali) lines.