New Delhi, Jan 22 (IANS): The BJP released its list of star campaigners for the upcoming Delhi polls, on Wednesday, featuring bollywood star Sunny Deol and party's bigest crowd puller Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Apart from Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP president J.P. Nadda, Defence Minister Rajnarth Singh, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and ABVP's general secretary (Organisation) B.L. Santosh are among 40 star campaigners of the party.
Some of the inclusions are very tactical like that of union minister Smriti Irani. Her ability to flawlessly converse in Bengali can be used by the party during its campaign amid a sizeable Bengali community in the national capital. Santosh's southern origin is expected to be used in areas like Karol Bagh and Mayur Vihar where there is a sizable presence of south Indians.
Similarly, Manoj Tiwari, who is not just Delhi BJP Chief but a popular Bhojpuri singer and actor along with Ravi Kishen, are there to woo the significant Purvanchali voters who hail from Bihar and Eastern Uttar Pradesh. Tiwari's popularity transcended the bhojpuri industry when he sang 'Jiya Ho Bihar Ke Lala Jiya Tu Haazar Sala' in popular Bollywood movie 'Gangs of Wasseypur'. BJP wishes to milk this to the hilt.
Sunny Deol, the BJP MP known for his "ye dhai kilo ka haath" dialogue that many expected from him during Lok Sabha campaign in Punjab's Gurdaspur, is also included in the list. So is yesteryear's star Hema Malini, who is a BJP MP from Mathura.
Then there is a "pahadi" community that has made Delhi their home for long. While BJP's new President Nadda is being projected as their own man, Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jairam Thakur, his protege, former Uttarakhand CM Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Anurag Thakur will be pressed to reach out to them.
Meanwhile, all seven BJP MPs from Delhi will be extensively campaigning in assembly constituencies that fall under their Lok Sabha jurisdiction. For instance, Tajinder Bagga's Hari Nagar assembly constituency falls under Parvesh Singh's Lok Sabha area and he will have a primary responsibility towards this.
However, the BJP has a tough task ahead in Delhi, where all poll trackers have predicted it to be way behind the Aam Aadmi Party. Nevertheless, it has a strategic selection of 40 star campaigners to hit the streets in an effort to undo that.