Explained: Will Shaheen Bagh help BJP in the Delhi polls

New Delhi, Feb 05: The Bharatiya Janata Party's aggressive campaign for the February 8 Delhi polls, banked on two issues Shaheen Bagh, tukde-tukde gang, which the party hopes it will virtually overshadow polls plank of development work by the Kejriwal government.

The three-star campaigners, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have consistently raised the issue of Shaheen Bagh.

While Modi termed the ongoing anti-CAA protests in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh a "political conspiracy", Shah termed it as "Jinnah wali azadi".

Adityanath has accused Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal of orchestrating the 50-day-old Shaheen Bagh sit-in and "feeding biryani" to protesters. Lashing out at the people protesting against the new citizenship law, Adityanath alleged that those who supported terrorists in Kashmir were staging protest in Shaheen Bagh and raising slogans of 'azadi'.

Addressing a poll rally, Modi said,'' These people were doubting the ability of our security forces during surgical strikes. Do citizens of Delhi want such people in power? These people are saving those who want to break India into pieces. There is a political design behind all these protests including Jamia and Shaheen Bagh.''

Modi also took swipe at Congress in Delhi rally and said that those who questioned Batla House encounter are saving those who raised 'tukde tukde' slogan. ''Shaheen Bagh and Jamia protests over CAA and NRC are not mere coincidence, but an experiment (Shaheen Bagh, Jamia protests mahaj sanjog nahi ek prayog hai)," said PM Modi targeting Congress and AAP.

However, Shaheen Bagh has given the BJP an opportunity to polarise elections in Delhi. The traffic chaos that has left the life out of gear in Delhi is turning an opportunity that has been seized by Home Minister Amit Shah and his campaigners.

The non-stop attack on Shaheen Bagh, changing the narrative of poll campaign between "desh bhakt" and "desh drohi" have made it one of the most divisive campaigns in recent times.

This aggressive campaign seems to be working for the saffron party, as C Voter claims that the BJP support has already jumped 7 per cent by Jan 27 to 31 per cent in a week of this challenging campaign. But that is not enough, the BJP needs to pull them down to 40 per cent to topple Kejriwal-led-AAP government.

On the other hand, a Times Now-IPSOS opinion poll has said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is set to return to power for a second consecutive full term in the Delhi Assembly elections 2020.

The findings of the survey come as a reality check for the BJP which is hoping to turn its fortunes in the national capital where it has much of its focus on the protests at Shaheen Bagh against the recently passed Citizenship Amendment Act, the National Population Register (NPR) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Finally, will BJP bet on Shaheen Bagh work? We need to wait for the February 11 mandate.