Delhi polls: BJP steps up outreach campaigns in Dalit-dominated seats

The BJP hopes to sharply improve its performance in Dalit-dominated constituencies of Delhi following a sustained and focussed outreach in the run up to the February 5 assembly polls, party leaders said.

The party failed to win even one of the 12 SC (scheduled castes) reserved constituencies in Delhi in 2015 and 2020. In previous elections too, the BJP never won more than two or three of the reserved seats.

There are 30 Assembly constituencies in the national capital, including 12 reserved for Dalit candidates, in which the Dalit voters range from 17 to 45 per cent.

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Slums, unauthorised colonies

Apart from the 12 reserved constituencies, there are 18 other seats with up to 25 per cent SC community votes, including Rajender Nagar, Chandni Chowk, Adarsh Nagar, Shahdara, Tughalaqbad, Bijwasan, where the BJP and its SC Morcha worked in the past several months, BJP leaders said.

An elaborate campaign was conducted in the slums and unauthorised colonies of these 30 constituencies in the last few months.

Delhi BJP SC Morcha president Mohan Lal Gihara said senior SC workers were deputed as "Vistarak" (expanders) in all these 30 constituencies for a focused outreach among the community members.

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Wooing Dalits

The 'Vistarak' further deputed 10 Dalit youths on each of the polling booths for person-to-person contact in various localities and residential areas in these constituencies, he said.

The party has identified more than 5,600 such polling booth out of which special focus was paid on over 1,900 booths.

The entire exercise of interacting with voters and explaining them works done for the community by the Modi government and "failures" of AAP in its 10-year rule involved a network of over 18,000 active workers, party leaders said.

Roping in Dalit leaders from other states

The BJP also roped in 55 big Dalit leaders from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana, including former Union ministers and MPs, in the second level of outreach.

Further, around 3,500 prominent community leaders, identified as key voters having political influence in their neighbourhoods, were contacted to deepen the outreach.

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SC Swabhiman gatherings

The party started holding "SC Swabhiman Sammelan" in these constituencies to felicitate the political influencers, professionals, achievers and prominent locals of the community, starting from December.

"So far 15 such conventions have been held and in each a senior BJP leader is present. A lot of support of the community was visible in these large meetings that were attended by 1,500-2,500 common members of the Dalit community," Gihara said.

Each of these participants were sent personal invitations to join these meetings, in a bid to strengthen their feeling of "self-respect" and bond with the party, he said.

Voting for 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi will be held on February 5. Results will be declared after counting of votes on February 8.

The BJP was routed by the Aam Aadmi Party that also won all the Dalit-dominated seats in 2015 and 2020. The saffron party has been out of power in the city since 1998.

(With inputs from agencies)