Delhi Elections 2015: BJP's senior leaders try to motivate angry karyakartas

Leaders such as Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, State BJP president Satish Upadhyay, addressed a gathering of over 200 karyakartas from Chandni Chowk.

By Vasudha Venugopal, ET Bureau | Jan 23, 2015, 12.43 PM IST

Delhi Elections 2015: BJP's senior leaders try to motivate angry karyakartas

NEW DELHI: It is well known that the secret of BJP winning in several States of late has been dependent on the relentless work done by its cadre to bring out voters to the polling booth. So, what happens if these booth coordinators decide to slack or not do the work allotted to them, out of sheer dissent?

This seems to be the fear lurking in the minds of senior State BJP leaders who addressed the booth sanyojak sammelan in the old part of the city on Thursday. Meant to motivate the workers and poll coordinators so that their "Jasba" levels are intact, the primary focus of the meeting was to mollify the workers, many of when expressed dissent over Kiran Bedi's sudden candidature as the CM, and urge them to work as a team.

Leaders such as Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, State BJP president Satish Upadhyay, senior party leader Vijay Goel, Delhi BJP in-charge Prabhat Jha among others, addressed a gathering of over 200 karyakartas from Chandni Chowk and nearby constituencies, mainly telling them to put in their best without letting needless grievance bother them.

Vijay Goel told the workers, "Some of you are asking where was Kiranji all these years. How can you say that? We must know she has been here for 40 years. She is one of us. She has come to fight for us. We have to work together with her to fight others, and wrest Delhi for the party."

Goel told the workers, "There is and should be no rift between us. There are times when you will be disappointed but please pull yourself together and put in your best. That is a unique strength of BJP workers - to work unitedly, despite everything. We have to do what we haven't done all these years. Make the party win like it has won in other States."

Delhi needs to have a BJP sarkaar and instilling one in the capital should be the sole target of the workers, the leaders told the workers. "Ek mat, ek jhutt" (We are one, we are united) was the slogan raised by them.

"Last time had a few more people voted we could have easily formed the government. This time your single minded focus should be on getting people out to vote for us," union minister Harsh Vardhan told the workers. Vardhan was the BJP's candidate for the top post in the elections held in December 2013, which threw up a fractured verdict.

"When I came to fight from Chandni Chowk, they told me it is the toughest seat. But you people made me win. You will have to work as you hard you did to make me win," he said, urging them "to hold their heads high and work towards the victory of the party." "Remember it is Modi fighting for us. We have to win this time to take Delhi to different heights."

In his 30 minute address filled with promises that Modi has made and fulfilled, Harsh Vardhan spoke at length about the need to wrest Delhi this time. "Reports of dissent or protests are not relevant any more. The BJP runs on vichardhaara and not on a particular person. Our karyakartas are our strength and they won't let us down," he told the ET later.

Harsh Vardhan has not been assigned any role for the Delhi polls. However at Chandni chowk his clout was evident, as slogans lauding him and Modi filled the room. Even the hoardings and posters of BJP that contain pictures of Bedi, Amit Shah and Modi, pictures of Harsh Vardhan were diligently pasted to mollify workers. Bedi's projection as BJP's chief ministerial candidate has led to backlash within the party which the party leaders have been trying to quash. Earlier this week, angry supporters of Upadhyay held a protest at party office accusing the leadership of sidelining him. Bedi herself has to face a restive crowd in her constituency Krishna Nagar recently. Senior BJP leaders in the Delhi unit admit that they had been sidelined but expressed more anger for not being kept in the loop on the happenings inside the party.

Sources said after many BJP cadre conveyed to their leaders that they may not vote and will not even perform their responsibilities as booth level coordinators, there has been more of an attempt to get them involved in the effort. Workers on Thursday in West Delhi meetings were also told that this was their last chance to wrest Delhi from others."If the party wins, everyone wins. Remember that. You should not forget your duty" J.P.Yadav told the workers in Chandni Chowk on Thursday.

This time Bedi is contesting from Krishna Nagar that was Dr Vardhan's assembly constituency before he contested and won last year's national election. When asked what he thought of Bedi contesting from a "safe seat" Harsh Vardhan said, "There is nothing wrong in contesting from a safe seat. This is politics. Such things happen." When asked to comment on Kiran Bedi, he said, "She was an experienced and hard working person."

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