The BJP on Thursday announced it would not release a manifesto for Delhi Assembly polls. Giving it a twist, the party will instead release a ‘vision document’ for the national Capital. The decision, which the rival Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) described as “shocking,” was taken at a meeting chaired by BJP president Amit Shah during which various aspects relating to election campaign were discussed.
Pulling out all the stops to win a comfortable majority in the February 7 elections, the BJP is fielding 120 MPs who would address around 250 rallies in the coming week. Besides, the workers have been asked to completely paint the city saffron with 1,000 posters of the party in each of the 70 constituencies. Sources said it was due to growing differences between various sections of the BJP that prompted it to scrap the idea of bringing out a manifesto.
Full statehood for Delhi, they said, was a major reason for the brewing differences. However, party leaders claimed the vision document too would present the roadmap for development of Delhi. The two-page vision document is likely to be released in a day or two. Union Science and Technology Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had already prepared the draft manifesto and sent it to the BJP leadership for approval.
Party insiders suggested that an agreement could not be reached on delegating the control of land and police to the State Government. Full statehood for Delhi was a key promise made by the BJP in the 2013 Assembly polls and the general elections in 2014.
Explaining the party’s logic behind this decision, senior party leader and Union Minister Ananth Kumar said, “The BJP would channelise all its strength for winning the elections instead of making mere promises. We want to win this election with two-third majority and it will be our historic victory. More than 1.20 lakh booth in-charges and panna pramukhs have been roped in to campaign and apprise people about BJP’s plans for the city. The party will put up around 1,000 posters in every constituency.”
AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal was quick to respond to the BJP’s decision and said that the news came to him as a big shock. “It only means that the BJP has no agenda with which it would fight the elections. A manifesto is released because it talks of what actions the party would take for the benefit of people once it comes to power,” Kejriwal said.
Thursday’s review meeting held by BJP president Amit Shah saw a dozen of ministers who have been devoting hours at the Delhi BKP office every day. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Chemical and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, BJP general secretary Ramlal, Union Ministers Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, JP Nadda and Dr Harsh Vardhan who are monitoring developments closely from the Delhi BJP headquarters were also present.
Earlier in the day, after the review meeting was concluded, Kumar had said, “The BJP will not come out with any manifesto for the Delhi Assembly polls and instead will release a vision document for the city in a day or two which will feature a roadmap for development and welfare of the people. The party has set a target to win the upcoming polls.”