BJP, Congress may unveil populist manifestos

‘AAP seems to be winning the perception war ahead of the polls’.

 

New Delhi: To counter the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party’s freebies doled out for Delhi’s residents, populist promises are set to dominate the poll manifestos of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress in Delhi. The Assembly polls for 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi will be held on 8 February.

With the AAP seeming to win the “perception war” ahead of the Assembly polls, the BJP and Congress, two major contenders in Delhi, have started preparing to bring compact manifestos filled with mostly populist promises.

Sources have confirmed that both the BJP and Congress are discussing about making a number of promises as part of their poll manifestos in which they can offer subsidised water, electricity, gas connections and education.

“The political parties are finding it difficult to counter the AAP without dolling out subsidised services as its poll promise. For this, both the BJP and Congress have formed expert committees to discuss the suggestions from the voters of Delhi. Congress and BJP have also conducted several rounds of surveys in which they are asking people to give their suggestions whether the AAP’s subsidised services are going to help it in the upcoming polls. Based on the survey results, the BJP and Congress are working on draft populist manifestos for the Assembly polls in the capital,” a source told The Sunday Guardian.

According to the source, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Subhash Chopra has launched a campaign, Dilli Ke Dil Ki Baat, to crowd-source suggestions from the electorates of Delhi to draft its manifesto for the elections.

Congress has already announced that if the party gets elected to power, it will offer more subsidised water, electricity, education and other services. Also, the Congress has already taken a stand against implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC)—the three issues the Congress thinks will benefit the party at least on Muslim-dominated seats.

Mukesh Sharma, chief spokesperson of Delhi Congress, told The Sunday Guardian: “Congress is going to make a comeback in Delhi and for this, the party has already launched an aggressive campaign on all platforms. The candidates’ names have been scrutinized and the party is going to announce the list soon.”

Similarly, the BJP is also working on its poll strategy and its core committee is working hard to draft its manifesto. As per the source, the BJP has already completed the drive seeking suggestions and now the party is going through the suggestions to be incorporated in its manifesto.

“The BJP is going to think beyond the existing health, education, electricity, and water situation. The party is working on micro issues like water-logging, potholes, damaged roads, dirty water supply, pollution and unemployment to counter AAP in Delhi,” a BJP functionary in Delhi told The Sunday Guardian.

However, the BJP is hoping that the division of Muslim voters, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “cult following” will help the party dethrone AAP in Delhi; however, the AAP is seemingly winning the “perception war” in Delhi.