Why BJP has turned to UP Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak in Delhi Assembly polls

The BJP had included Pathak in its list of star campaigners and was planning to use him for election rallies in certain pockets. But the party quickly deployed him round-the-clock in the National Capital as it dealt with blowback over comments that spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla made last week. The comments were regarded as offensive to Purvanchalis (people from east UP and Bihar). During a television debate, Poonawalla and AAP spokesperson Rituraj Jha had traded barbs over their surnames, with the BJP leader’s remarks seen as derogatory to the Purvanchali community that is estimated to make up about a third of Delhi’s electorate.

BJP leaders said the party’s top brass initially decided to use Pathak to counter the AAP after former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a monthly honorarium of Rs 18,000 for temple priests.

According to the BJP, about 30 per cent of people in Chandni Chowk are Purvanchalis, with an estimated 20 per cent of them from east UP. Pathak and his team have been tasked with covering each pocket where these people with roots in UP live. They have been told to look after the management of booths, screen voter lists, and hold meetings with booth-level workers of the party and members of various communities and institutions in each Assembly constituency in Chandni Chowk.

Pathak and his team have also been handed a list of all temples in these constituencies and asked to visit these places of worship and meet the priests to discuss the development of temples and religious clusters and point out the facilities given to their peers in UP by the Adityanath government.

On Thursday, Pathak held a meeting in Burari where the chairperson of the Akhil Bharatiya Pujari Sangh (All India Priests’ Association), Dinesh Chandra Sharma, was among those present. Pandit Vaibhav Sharma who is the priest of Delhi’s famous “Marghat Waale Baba Hanuman Mandir” accompanies the UP Deputy CM in his daily meetings, said BJP insiders.

A BJP leader said members of Pathak’s team had the experience of working in elections. After joining the BJP in 2016 following a long stint with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Pathak gradually replaced Dinesh Sharma who had been made Deputy CM after the party came to power in UP in 2017. He holds the Health and Medical Education portfolios.