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Purvanchali voters in Delhi are being actively wooed by the BJP’s Purvanchal Morcha
Delhi BJP’s Chhath Puja events at Sarojini, Dilshad Garden and Chandni Chowk. (News18)
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had deployed the government apparatus on the Yamuna for days in the run-up to the Chhath festival to spray liquid to ward off toxic foams while devotees took a holy dip — a blunder in terms of photo op, if not avoided. Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Marlena Singh, who derives her middle name from a mix of Marx and Lenin, had to bow to the political compulsion before a crucial election next year.
However, the Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), instead of concentrating on a major event for Chhath, employed a micro-level strategy for days and weeks in the run-up to the festival. The BJP’s Purvanchal Morcha focussed on wooing its vote bank, which accounts for 42% of the Delhi electorate.
BJP’S BUILD-UP
As Atishi stayed away from the frothing Yamuna – the Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to permit devotees to perform Chhath Puja on the banks of the Yamuna — and took part in an event in Giri Nagar, the BJP didn’t just focus on social engagements.
Delhi BJP Chief Virendra Sachdeva took part in a Chhath event in Patparganj in East Delhi, while Manoj Tiwari and Bijayant Jay Panda took part in the Chhath event in ITO. Party national president JP Nadda flew to Patna for Chhath Puja and visited state ministers’ and party leaders’ residences, sending out a message in Bihar and to Purvanchali voters in Delhi.
At a more micro level, there has been a build-up for weeks in assembly constituencies such as Uttam Nagar, Vikaspuri, Adarsh Nagar, Badarpur, Badli, Burari and Kundali. Purvanchali voters, who are also settled in areas like Karawal Nagar, Kirari, Laxmi Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Shahdara, Seemapuri, Mustafabad, Patparganj, Palam, Rithala, Trilokpuri and Sangam Vihar, are being actively wooed by the BJP’s Purvanchal Morcha — quietly, undetected when Chhath was far away and opponents weren’t active.
Standing by its old-fashioned electioneering that saw success in Haryana, the BJP is taking the same path. In each division of Delhi, particularly where the Purvanchali voters are in high numbers, the morcha has already distributed ceremonial offerings to 11 devotees. The idea was to touch upon the lives of the Purvanchalis residing in Delhi and strike a chord with them much ahead of the political jostling for Chhath Puja.
सूर्योपासना के महापर्व ‘छठ पूजा’ के पावन अवसर पर आज पटना, बिहार में छठी मैया के पवित्र अनुष्ठान में अस्ताचलगामी भगवान भास्कर के पूजन का सौभाग्य प्राप्त हुआ। इस क्रम में सम्मानित जनों के आवास पर छठ पर्व की शुभेच्छाएं दी। मैं समस्त देशवासियों को सूर्यषष्ठी की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएं… pic.twitter.com/HaZb7ouPsA
— Jagat Prakash Nadda (@JPNadda) November 7, 2024
THE PURVANCHAL POLITICS
Purvanchalis — people from the easternmost part of Uttar Pradesh and the western end of Bihar — form a key voting bloc in Delhi. Perceived as a vote bank of the Congress, the Purvanchalis switched to AAP which the BJP started wooing with the induction of Bhojpuri singer Manoj Tiwari and later his appointment as the Delhi BJP chief. Even in this Lok Sabha election, when all sitting Lok Sabha candidates were shown the door, Tiwari was the only one who swam against the tide. The Purvanchal vote bank in the Delhi election is said to be responsible for him getting the ticket, while many of his senior colleagues like Meenakshi Lekhi missed the bus.
In 2019, when former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sparked a controversy by saying “people from Bihar were getting free medical treatment in Delhi”, suggesting an economic burden on Delhi, the BJP capitalised on it to mark a turning point for Purvanchali voters.
