As Swati Maliwal row spins out of AAP control, how BJP has adjusted its Delhi poll messaging

The BJP’s campaign strategy to counter the INDIA bloc in Delhi has been to target the AAP more than the Congress because the Kejriwal-led party is seen as a more formidable opposition in the national capital, which votes on May 25, than the grand old party. The BJP has also kept a concerted focus on the Kejriwal government’s alleged corruption, the BJP-led Centre’s “contribution” to the “development of Delhi”, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and “his strong and stable leadership”.

The BJP initially countered the AAP’s welfare pitch with its central welfare schemes “overseen by the PM himself” and in a signal to women voters brought up how the now-withdrawn excise policy had “plunged their husbands and sons into alcoholism”. But a swift shift was effected immediately after Maliwal’s allegations surfaced. The BJP then began mentioning it in its campaign at the city’s JJ (jhuggi-jhopri) clusters and slums, which have traditionally preferred the AAP having benefited from the party’s flagship power and water subsidy schemes, in addition to free travel aboard public buses.

Though women remained in focus, the narrative shifted from commitment to their welfare to “how they are treated” by the AAP. While at the rally in Delhi last Saturday, PM Modi focussed on attacking the AAP and the Congress, likening their seat-sharing arrangement to “one corrupt individual providing cover to another”, other BJP leaders, starting from its Delhi president Virendra Sachdeva to national president J P Nadda, have latched onto the Maliwal issue.

“Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal used to sit on dharna at Vijay Chowk over the Nirbhaya incident. Today, how is a woman being mistreated in the drawing room of the same Chief Minister? What kind of hypocrisy is this?” Nadda asked at a public event in Delhi on Saturday. In the last two days, BJP leaders who visited the capital as part of the Lok Sabha campaign, including former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP’s Hyderabad candidate Madhavi Latha, have also raised the issue.

BJP’s assessment

BJP insiders said the party was concerned about its performance in Chandni Chowk, North East, and West Delhi. Mainly due to their slum and minority population among whom the AAP has a strong base.

The BJP leadership, sources said, believes a 7-0 sweep like the last two times was an “expected outcome”, 6-1 would be an “acceptable outcome”, and 5-2 was the “worst-case scenario”. To tilt the contest in its favour, the party is now gearing up for Modi’s second rally in the capital in as many weeks. It will be held on Wednesday, a day before campaigning concludes.

“Our ground surveys show that our leaders have certainly been able to effectively communicate the issue around Maliwal to voters, especially in slums and JJ clusters where more and more women voters are understood to be responding positively to it over the coming days,” said a BJP insider.

The AAP, meanwhile, has countered saying Maliwal’s allegations have had no impact and were a part of the BJP’s diversionary tactics. “This is a non-issue; we too are hitting the ground and no one is asking our leaders for clarifications since they are committed to the AAP due to the positive impact that our government has had on their lives,” said an AAP leader.

BJP’s campaign points

Corruption: The BJP has consistently raked up corruption allegations against the AAP, including the now-scrapped excise policy and 10 other alleged scams.

Welfare schemes: In addition to Ujjwala and Ayushman Bharat, the BJP is concentrating on the regularisation of unauthorised colonies and the “Jahan Jhuggi, Wahan Makan” rehabilitation programme. The BJP is also talking about the Centre’s Delhi-specific projects such as the doubling of the Delhi Metro network, e-buses under the FAME scheme, national highways, and NAMO Bharat trains.

The party has also targeted the AAP, blaming the Kejriwal government for “the inability of the Centre to implement pivotal schemes in Delhi such as Ayushman Bharat”.

Plans for Delhi: Invoking the G20 summit, the National War and Police memorials, the Museum of Prime Ministers, the new Parliament building, and the Central Vista project, the BJP is also campaigning about the creation of national assets in Delhi, saying it will make Delhi “both look and feel like” India’s capital. The BJP has also promised to save the Yamuna, bring down its pollution level, and address the lack of drainage and sewage treatment plants in the city.