NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DEC 15
The Delhi unit of BJP will hold “Dhanyawad Rally’’ (Gratitude Rally) at Ramlila Maidan next Sunday, on December 22. At the rally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the party’s campaign for the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, said Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari on Saturday.
The rally will be attended by residents of unauthorised colonies. Earlier this month, Parliament passed the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Recognition of Property Rights of Residents in Unauthorised Colonies) Bill, 2019, to grant ownership rights to residents of Delhi’s unauthorised colonies.
It was passed in Lok Sabha on November 28, followed by Rajya Sabha on December 4.
Looking to make a comeback in Delhi after over two decades, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is counting on voters living in unauthorised colonies to challenge the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Assembly polls early next year.
Residents from all 1,731 unauthorised colonies in the national capital, who have been given ownership rights of their properties, will attend the “Dhanyawad Rally” (Gratitude Rally).
The party will run a campaign to collect signatures of 11 lakh residents of these colonies. These will be handed over to the Prime Minister at the December 22 rally as a gesture of gratitude for the Centre’s role in removing the “unauthorised” tag from the colonies where 40 lakh people live, Tiwari said.
The BJP was routed in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, with the party bagging only three seats in the 70-member House. The AAP had won the remaining 67 seats.
BJP leaders believe that highlighting the passage of the Bill to give ownership rights to residents of illegal colonies in Parliament could swing the votes of this section in party’s favour.
Tiwari said senior party leaders will address 350 street-corner meetings and take out marches in all the unauthorised colonies from December 18-20 to apprise the people about the “historic decision” of the Modi government.
BJP Yuva Morcha workers, along with people from unauthorised colonies, will take out motorcycle rallies in all 70 Assembly constituencies on December 17. The same day, BJP leaders will hold ”Bhumi Puja” at Ramlila Maidan to begin preparations for the “Dhanyawad Rally”, Tiwari added.
