Delhi BJP plans four rallies by PM Narendra Modi

NEW DELHI: Delhi BJP proposes to organise four election rallies by Narendra Modi in the city, keen to cash in on the Prime Minister’s star power. Five rally venues have been identified and these have been forwarded to the central party leadership for approval.
“We have put in a request for four public rallies by PM Narendra Modi in Delhi. We are likely to get the nod for at least two of them,” said Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari on Wednesday.
The venues identified include Sant Nirankari Ground in Burari, Shastri Park, Dwarka, Mehrauli and near Japanese Park in Rohini.Tiwari said the Nirankari Ground abuts six assembly segments and can easily accommodate up to three lakh people.
According to a senior Delhi BJP leader, Modi addressed two public rallies in the capital when campaigning for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and four ahead of the 2015 assembly elections.
“Since the party has decided to highlight Modi’s governance model and the achievements of the central government to win support, the impact will be greater if the PM himself tells the voters about the work done by his team,” the leader said.
Tiwari added that the PM would also connect with party workers across 500 locations in the country through video conferencing from Delhi’s Talkatora Stadium under the ‘Mai Bhi Chowkidar’ programme on March 31.
The Delhi BJP chief also revealed that the candidates for the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi would be announced in the first week of April. While sources claimed that the candidate list was getting “delayed” due to uncertainty over a possible alliance between Congress and AAP, Tiwari clarified that the party was keeping tabs on this development, but was also in the process of short-listing candidates.
“We are indeed keeping an eye on an AAP-Congress alliance, but it wouldn’t be correct to say that the announcement of our candidates is delayed because of that,” Tiwari said. “In 2014 too, our candidates were announced 26 days before the polling. Voting in Delhi takes place on May 12 and we will give the candidates ample time to campaign.”
Tiwari said the party had already begun holding rallies of prominent leaders. “We will focus on exposing the failures of the AAP government and how it has deprived Delhi of the benefits of central schemes such as Ayushman Bharat and reservation for the economically weaker sections,” he said.