Ahead of the Assembly polls in the national Capital, the BJP seems to be fighting a tough battle in wooing voters of the Valmiki community. Party’s national president Amit Shah on Tuesday addressed a ‘Mahasabha’ of Dalits.
At its Bharatiya Dalit Maha Panchayat Sammelan, organised in Talkatora indore stadium, which has capacity of 3,035 people, the saffron party was expecting a huge gathering. However, only about 1,200 people attended the event. Undaunted by the low turnout, Shah urged the Dalit community to support the party and ensure its victory in the upcoming Assembly polls.
Despite having a scant audience, the party supremo ensured to enroll nearly one thousand members into the party-fold. Giving ‘live demonstration’ of membership campaign, the BJP president enrolled about 1,000 members within just few minutes. The 1,000-odd new members joined the party by simply dialing its toll-free number.
Shah appealed the audience to dial toll-free number, 18002662020, to get instant membership of the party. He then welcomed the callers to the party-fold. “Now that you have joined our party, I am expecting all of you to contribute towards the BJP’s comprehensive victory in the upcoming elections,” said Shah, addressing the crowd.
“The party has decided this time that any part of the country, any colony, especially those inhibited by Dalits and Valmikis, should not be left without BJP’s presence,” the party chief said. The Dalit community has a significant influence in around 12 of the 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi. The Dalit voters are estimated at around 22 lakh out of 1.20 crore registered voters in the city.
Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay also wooed the community and promised to end contractual jobs in Delhi. “If we come to power, we will end contractual labour and all Government employees will be made permanent,” he said.
Promising to provide comprehensive education and health benefits to Dalits, Upadhyay said research scholars will be provided free laptops by the BJP. “The BJP has always worked for the betterment of the Valmiki community and in future too, whatever problems you face, you can always count on us to solve them,” he said.