BJP candidate Bansuri Swaraj filed her nomination on Tuesday for the New Delhi seat ahead of the polls for Lok Sabha 2024 elections draped in her mother former Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s saree in the presence of Union Minister Sardar Hardeep Puri and her father former Governor of Mizoram Swaraj Kaushal. She also offered prayers to Lord Ram and performed a puja before heading to file nominations.

One witnessed a large crowd of women supporters in her roadshow ahead of the general election polls slated to be held in the national capital on May 25. Party workers carrying flags bearing images of Lord Ram and Prime Minister Narendra Modi celebrated the occasion by dancing to the beat of dhols and raising victory slogans.Three factors work in Bansuri’s favour- Modi, Swaraj and nari shakti (women power).

Swaraj held a grand roadshow from Tuglaq road to the Jamnagar House where she filed her nomination. In her roadshow, one could see supporters and party workers raise slogans including ‘Kyo pade ho chakar ne, koi nahi hai takkar me’ and ‘abki bar 400 par’.

Talking to The Pioneer, supporters, especially women, attributed the reason behind their support and vote to the saffron party’s candidate as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face and work.

An 80 year old woman voter said that Bansuri represents ‘nari shakti’, which is her reason to vote for her and walk in the roadshow in the scorching sun. Additionally, supporters also see her mother Former Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s reflection in her personality, making her more trustworthy to be elected given her mother’s legacy.

After filing her nomination at the office of the district magistrate-cum-returning officer, Bansuri asserted that BJP will sweep all seven states in the national capital and said, “This is a national election and BJP is loaded with self-confidence. PM Modi has done a lot of work; we are going among people with our performance report card.”

Outside the office, one could witness an atmosphere of festivity with party workers and supporters enthusiastically raising slogans. Few also danced on the tunes of a band being played outside while Bansuri was filing her nomination for the general elections..

The INDIA alliance candidate from the Aam Aadmi Party Somnath Bharti is contesting against Swaraj on the seat. Attacking the jailed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, she said, “However, if we speak about Delhi, CM Arvind Kejriwal does politics of hatred and because of that he has not let PM Modi’s people welfare scheme be implemented in the National Capital like Ayushman Bharat. If people make me win then I am going to ensure that the people welfare scheme of PM Modi ‘Ayushman Bharat’ will be implemented in Delhi as well.”

Party workers and supporters wore saffron clothes and waved flags bearing images of Lord Ram and Modi as Bansuri Swaraj made her way to file her nomination papers. The streets reverberated with slogans of “Phir ek bar Modi sarkar” and “Hamara neta kaise ho, Bansuri jaisa ho” as her roadshow passed, with both men and women participating in equal numbers.

Puri, while speaking to the media following the process, attacked the Congress on the issue of reservation and inheritance tax.

He said, “No one among us has said that we want to change the Constitution. As far as changing the Constitution is concerned, a false scenario is being spread in this regard. They have tried to spread a false narrative. They have to pay the price. We are just at two-phase, polling at five phases is still to be conducted, and we will get ‘400 paar’. One of their professors Sam Pitroda said that they will bring an inheritance tax, but when he himself had to pay inheritance tax, they covered it up. Bansuri ji will have a great performance and victory.”

Placards featuring images of Modi and Bansuri Swaraj were prominently displayed while some attendees wore t-shirts emblazoned with “Team Bansuri”.

The roadshow, which started from Tughlak Lane, drew a large number of party workers, leading to traffic disruptions.

Delhi BJP president Virendraa Sachdeva, who was also present for Bansuri’s nomination filing, said, “The way workers are enthusiastic here, this shows that we are going to win all the seven seats in Delhi. Bansuri Swaraj will win the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat.”