So, if one were to estimate where Shah and Adityanath would reach the most voters, it would be in North East and East Delhi. This explains why they held 16 campaign events in the area.

North East and East Delhi

The areas traversed by Shah and Adityanath included neighbourhoods that formed the ground zero of the Delhi violence, in which 53 people have been confirmed killed so far.

Shah began his Delhi campaign on January 23. The next day, he held rallies in Mustafabad, Karawal Nagar, and Gokulpuri. He returned on January 26 with consecutive rallies in Rohtas Nagar and Babarpur, and a road show in Ghonda. On February 2, he held a rally in Burari. Two days later, he spoke in Timarpur. The following day, he was in Krishna Nagar and Gandhi Nagar in East Delhi. On February 6, the last day of campaigning, Shah led a roadshow in Seemapuri in North East Delhi.

On February 1, Adityanath spoke in Karawal Nagar. On February 4, he held rallies in Shahdara and Patparganj in East Delhi.

Most of the areas covered by Adityanath and Shah were affected by the Delhi carnage: Karawal Nagar, Mustafabad, Gokulpuri, Babarpur, and Ghonda. These Assembly constituencies encompass localities such as Yamuna Vihar, Brahampuri, Bhajanpura, Shiv Vihar, Khajuri Khas, Chand Bagh, Johripur, and Kardampuri.

Seemapuri, Shahdara, Krishna Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, and Timarpur are in the vicinity of the areas affected by the violence.

Provocative, inciteful, incendiary

On January 26, Republic Day, I attended an Amit Shah rally in North East Delhi’s Babarpur. It was hosted beside a Shiv temple, about half a kilometre from the Maujpur-Badarpur metro station. This stretch was barricaded at one end, and Delhi police, Central Armed Police Forces, and Rapid Action Force personnel manned it for several hundred metres; they directed public and traffic movement, frisked attendees, and guarded entrances to the rally.

The RAF’s Riot Control Vehicle, which has become a familiar sight lately, was parked nearby.

I reported at the time that less than half of Shah’s speech focused on local issues. He touched upon beautifying a local lake and extending Ayushman Bharat to Delhi. He also chastised the AAP government for failing to “protect mothers and sisters” and not building good schools for their children.

This seemed like a formality, however. Shah, introduced at the rally as “Hindu Samrat”, set the pitch with the very first sentence: “Your voice should reach the supporters of Shaheen Bagh. Lift your hands, clench your victorious fists, shout with me, ‘Bharat mata ki…’” “Jai” boomed back from the crowd.

The “supporters of Shaheen Bagh” was a dogwhistle for Muslims. Shah’s North East Delhi audience understood this and responded honestly. There was loud cheering when Shah said voting for the BJP would “make the city and the country safe and secure“ and “stop thousands of Shaheen Baghs”.