Delhi elections: In illegal colonies, BJP finds data goldmine

Though registration papers have only been distributed to a token handful, following the PM’s December 22 address, BJP had advertised the achievement on hoardings in every colony.

Then, a drive to reach out to the key voter base began at the start of the year. Workers are collecting Aadhaar numbers, phone numbers and email IDs of houseowners to register them on the DDA website.

To track the progress made by its workers on the ground, the BJP has installed a location tracking mobile app on their phones. “We can then see which Assembly constituency is not doing well and mobilise workers there,” said the coordinator of the database, adding that the party is particularly focusing on 31 of the 70 Assembly seats. “If BJP gets even one-third of these (over 40 lakh) votes, then it’s a clear-cut majority… It is going to focus on that,” said someone in the know of BJP’s data collection strategy.

Since the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP has used a network of call centres and databases for outreach. In Delhi’s case, the call centres have so far sent three SMS scripts and a recording of the PM’s speech to roughly 5 lakh people.