In the eight of the past 16 years that BJP has dominated the civic bodies, its work has been far from stellar.
THE Municipal Corporations of Delhi form the lowest level of governance and leadership in the city but the councillors of these civic bodies are of utmost importance to every party in this election. Councillors are the foot soldiers on whose enthusiastic work the party’s success depends, as the party’s campaign and a candidate’s publicity are the councillors’ responsibility.
They go door to door and engage with workers propagating the party’s message. The workers bring the crowds on the streets, not just for the rallies and public meetings but also for voting on poll days. BJP’s state unit president and a former councillor, Satish Upadhyay, said, “Councillors are important organisationally. The benchmark for their performance is that they have to win the polling booths falling in their wards.”
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More than the MLAs, it is the councillor’s performance that counts in many areas. “We take a candid approach and try to meet every single person in a ward and inform them of what we have done for the area,” BJP’s leader of the house in North Municipal Corporation, Mira Agarwal, said.
Additionally, in every ward, the voters’ list is divided by page. Every page has an “in-charge” who takes care of the approximately 60 names on that page. “The page in-charge will go meet every member on that list. He will visit and remind them to vote,” Agarwal said.
The councillors will have cellphone numbers of at least one member in a household and speak to them regularly. The process also helps party gauge the number of sympathisers in a constituency which helps the leadership make estimates about winning and losing candidates in each constituency. Most voters are made aware of their specific polling stations by these ground-level workers led by the councillors. On election day, most voters enter polling stations with little chits of paper provided by the workers informing them of their place on the voter list. This makes the job easier for the voting officials and ensures quicker and higher voting for the parties.
Leader of the house in the South Municipal Corporation, Subhash Arya, said that the programme for local events comes from the party and the actualisation of which comes down to the councillors. “We go door to door, then organise corner meetings and public rallies depending on availability of national leaders,” he said.
The Congress operates on councillor’s goodwill. “The councillors personal relationship with the electorate matters and he tries to transform that for his MLA,” leader of the opposition in South corporation, Farhad Suri, said.
For the BJP, the MCDs have been its only presence in the capital as Congress ruled the national capital for 15 years. This election, as the party hopes to consolidate the intervening level between the Centre and the Corporation, the orders are coming directly from party president Amit Shah’s office. Pamphlets describing the party’s decisions and the work done are being printed and sent to the councillors for distribution.
Naveed Iqbal is a Senior Assistant Editor at The Indian Express, and reports from Jammu and Kashmir. With a career spanning over 15 years in frontline journalism, Naveed provides authoritative reporting on the region’s transition, governance, and the socio-political implications of national policies.
Expertise
Regional Specialization: Based in the Srinagar and New Delhi bureaus, Naveed has spent over a decade documenting the unique challenges of Jammu and Kashmir. Her reporting is distinguished by deep contextual knowledge of the region's post-Article 370, statehood debates, and local electoral politics.
Key Coverage Beats: Her extensive body of work covers:
Politics & Governance: Tracking the National Conference (NC), PDP, and BJP dynamics, including in-depth coverage of J&K’s first Assembly sessions and Rajya Sabha polls following the reorganization of the state.
Internal Security & Justice: Providing rigorous reporting on counter-insurgency operations, terror module investigations, and judicial developments involving political detainees and constitutional rights.
Education & Minority Affairs: Highlighting systemic issues such as quota rows in J&K, public service commission reforms, and the challenges faced by minority communities. ... Read More
