Delhi polls: Shah pulls up BJP leaders for "lacklustre" campaign

New Delhi, Jan 29: BJP president Amit Shah today pulled up a number of senior leaders of party's Delhi unit for the "lacklustre" election campaign and sternly told them to put up a united fight to effectively counter "main rival" AAP. [Delhi assembly election special coverage 2015]

In a meeting attended by several Union ministers besides Delhi BJP leaders, Shah called the party's campaign "spiritless" and directed them to go "full throttle" to defeat Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP which has put up a spirited fight, sources said. [BJP to conduct 250 rallies in 7 days, PM Modi to address 4 rallies]

Shah very clearly told the Delhi party leaders that no indiscipline will be tolerated and that they must rally behind Kiran Bedi whose projection as party's chief ministerial candidate has not been welcomed by a section in the party, they said. They said Shah has taken "full control" of the campaign and sidelined Delhi unit chief Satish Upadhyay. Shah has tasked 120 MPs including 14 Union ministers and hundreds of party workers from 13 states to campaign in Delhi.

"Shah called the campaign lacklustre and was very disappointed with some of the Delhi leaders," a source said.

According to the sources, RSS has recently given a report to the central leadership which indicates that there are internal dissensions among the party's Delhi unit which was affecting BJP's campaign in the city where it was eyeing a return to power after a gap of 16 years. The report also said the campaign needs to be put on "fast track mode".

The senior ministers who attended Shah's review meeting today include Ananth Kumar, Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Radha Mohan Singh, Kalraj Mishra, J P Nadda, Harsh Vardhan, Birender Singh, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, Sanjeev Baliyan and Rao Inderjeet Singh, among others. A senior BJP leader who attended the meeting said Shah chided some leaders for "lack of enthusiasm" in distributing "campaign materials" throughout the city.

Shah asked the leaders to work with the booth in-charges and 'panna pramukhs' to connect with the voters. Another leader said a section in the party felt the issue of full statehood for Delhi should be highlighted in the vision document while some others feel that it should not be included.

PTI