Eye on reserved seats, BJP woos Dalits

NEW DELHI: BJP on Friday held the Maha Dalit Sammelan at Talkatora Stadium, their first rally after announcement of assembly poll dates, to woo the city's Dalit and Khatik Samaj. Party chief Amit Shah, northwest Delhi MP Udit Raj, BJP member Vijay Goel, amongst several others, addressed over 3,000 Dalits trying to bring them over to the saffron fold.
Dalits, constituting one-fourth of the electorate, are a huge vote bank as 12 out of the 70 assembly constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.There are an estimated 15 lakh Dalit voters. Though traditionally a Congress vote bank, AAP had taken away a chunk of them in the 2013 polls and won nine of the 12 seats, while BJP only won two in Bawana and Gokulpur. Considering these aspects, BJP can get the much-needed in the elections if they manage to consolidate this vote bank and woo AAP voters to their side.
Shah said the party would prioritize all issues concerning the welfare and uplift of Dalits. "We want to spread the message that if anyone can work for Dalits and if any party can govern Delhi, then it's only BJP," he said. Attacking Arvind Kejriwal, he added: "In Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal created an atmosphere that AAP would win all seven parliamentary seats in Delhi, but could not win a single one. He (Kejriwal) dreamt of becoming the Prime Minister. But there was a BJP wave in all seven seats and this is what is needed in Delhi polls."
BJP brought in Udit Raj as the northwest Delhi candidate in Lok Sabha elections to tackle AAP's Rakhi Birla, who was popular in the Valmiki community. While Udit Raj defeated Birla with a significant margin, the outcome of the assembly elections could differ depending on how Dalit voters are split this time around. The party is bringing in more Dalit workers to campaign and woo voters. "The Centre recently regularized about 1,600 unauthorized colonies in Delhi, which was needed for the Dalits, downtrodden and minority. BJP has been working tirelessly for the Dalit community and should win all 12 reserved seats," said Udit Raj.