NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to start campaigning for the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP) for the assembly elections in New Delhi, by holding two public meetings in the national capital this week.

Just four days are left for the campaigning to end for the assembly elections to be held on 8 February. As such, the three major political parties contesting the elections are leaving no stone unturned to woo the voters and are raising the pitch of the campaign and at their public meetings.

Modi’s public meetings also come against the backdrop of protests in Delhi against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, or CAA.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold one public meeting each in Shahdara and Dwarka area of Delhi. We are confident that the people of Delhi will support the BJP in this election as they did in the general elections in 2019 and 2014 and during the municipal elections. We are confident of doing well in the polls," said a senior BJP leader who is involved in Modi’s campaign.

BJP leaders point out that at least 100 senior members of the party are campaigning along with the candidates in Delhi. All BJP chief ministers, deputy chief ministers, Union ministers and senior leaders have been asked to focus on the Delhi elections.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has, meanwhile, reached out to the Election Commission to demand that Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath be barred from holding public meetings and campaigning as he had called Delhi chief minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal a terrorist. This comes in the wake of the poll panel banning Union minister Anurag Thakur and BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh from campaigning because of the objectionable statements made by them.

“Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said that Arvind Kejriwal has links to Pakistan. Yogi should be arrested, jailed and should be asked to provide proof for his claims. EC is silent on all this, his campaigning should be banned in Delhi," said Sanjay Singh, an MP and a senior AAP leader.

In the last week, the AAP has planned an aggressive campaign with daily public meetings, street plays and door-to-door campaign. In the run-up to the elections, Kejriwal has addressed public meetings, held road shows and townhalls across all the 70 assembly segments. The stakes are the highest for the AAP, which came to power after winning 67 out of 70 seats in 2015.

Realising that there is a sentiment among a section of people against CAA, and implementation of National Population Register (NPR) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), the Congress has promised in its manifesto, released on Sunday, that if it comes to power, the party will ensure that NRC and NPR are not implemented in Delhi.

Senior leaders of the party have promised in the manifesto to provide free electricity up to 300 units, monthly unemployment allowance of ₹5,000 for graduates and ₹7,500 for postgraduates, pledging a quarter of Delhi’s annual budget on fighting pollution and improving transportation. The Congress has also promised to bring a resolution against CAA in the first assembly session if voted to power.

Anuja contributed to this story.

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