BJP to soon announce names for Delhi elections, seat-sharing with allies

The Janata Dal-United and the Lok JanShakti Party have asked the BJP to give them five seats each in Delhi

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) central election committee, which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief JP Nadda, is set to meet soon and finalise the names of the 70 candidates and seat-sharing details with allies for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

New Delhi: BJP leaders and workers stage a protest against AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, alleging the use of 'extravagant luxurious items' for the renovation of the official bungalow earlier occupied by him as CM (PTI FILE PHOTO)

The Aam Admi Party (AAP) has declared all the candidates, and the Congress has issued a list of 21 candidates for the elections, the schedule for which is yet to be announced.

The party is winding up the process of seeking feedback from the cadre on the likely names for candidature and the seats that can be allocated to its allies, the Janata Dal-United (JDU) and the Lok JanShakti Party (LJP), a BJP functionary said. According to a second functionary, the two alliance partners are seeking five seats each.

“There is a sizeable population, about 3-4 million that traces its roots to Bihar and both the JDU and the LJP are keen to contest with an eye on that demographic, which is spread across Delhi, from the old city to the north-east, west and the north-west. Counted as Purvanchali (together with people from Uttar Pradesh) the voters are wooed by all political parties alike,” said the second functionary.

In the last assembly elections, the LJP was given one seat, Seemapuri in east Delhi, while the JDU had two, Burari in northwest Delhi and Sangam Vihar in south Delhi. The allies did not win any of these seats while the AAP with 62 seats went on to form the government, leaving only 8 seats for the BJP.

This time, the allies are likely to get more seats, given the BJP’s thrust on resetting ties with partners.

The generous approach also recognises that the BJP could form government at the Centre for the third time due to support from allies including the JDU which has 12 MPs and the LJP which has 5, after it won 240 seats, and fell short of the halfway mark of 272.

The BJP, which has decided to not have a chief ministerial face for the upcoming polls, is also sharpening its election campaign, which would pivot on highlighting what the party says are AAP’s “corruption and governance deficiencies” and the “freebies” which the party claimed, had an adverse impact on the state’s revenue.

Pointing out that the AAP faces anti-incumbency after being in office for two terms and was currently in control of the municipal corporation as well, the first functionary quoted above said there was widespread dissatisfaction with AAP’s governance style and extreme anger over corruption.

Although the party’s performance in terms of seat share was abysmally low in 2015 and 2020 when it won just 3 and 8 seats respectively, the party is buoyant that its vote share remained steady. In 2015 the party’s vote share was 32.3%, which increased to 38.51% in 2020.

Asked how the party was planning to criticise AAP for the subsidies that are being promised by its opponents when governments run by BJP have similar schemes, , the first functionary said, “There is a huge difference between freebies that the AAP is giving and promising and the welfare measures of the BJP. Take for instance the AAP’s free bus ride scheme in Delhi, it is a freebie, meant for all sections; the BJP on the other hand gives aid to women who meet a certain criterion.”

The AAP has promised up to 200 units of electricity free to all homes, with a 50% subsidy on usage beyond that, financial support to women from families that have less than ₹3 lakh annual income and free healthcare for residents over 60 among other subsidies and aid.