BJP Goes All Out: Roadshows in All 70 Seats in Delhi as Campaigning Ends Today

BJP chief Amit Shah has sent word down the party rank and file that they must ignore opinion polls that have predicted first place in Delhi for Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party. Internal surveys, he told them, show the BJP winning.

At his last rally yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi too dismissed opinion polls as "lies," reminding voters that some polls had predicted he would lose in Varanasi to Mr Kejriwal in the national elections last year. Mr Modi won with a huge margin.

The 69 BJP candidates have been told to hold roadshows in the constituencies they are contesting and establish direct contact with the voters today.

The party, which had swept all seven Delhi seats in the national elections last year, has instructed its seven MPs to be prominently present at the roadshows in their areas.

An army of central ministers and MPs deployed for the last week by Amit Shah in a re-calibrated strategy, will also be out campaigning today in full strength.

Mr Shah addressed a rally today. PM Modi addressed four rallies in five days.

The BJP's presumptive chief minister Kiran Bedi will hold a road show in north-west Delhi's Mangolpuri and nearby areas, before holding one in her constituency, Krishna Nagar.

While an aggregate of three major opinion polls showed AAP scraping past the halfway mark earlier this week, another set of opinion polls show the BJP ahead, suggesting a close finish when votes are counted on Tuesday next.

Mr Shah has said the BJP is in a direct fight with AAP and will form government in Delhi riding on the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the work done by his government at the Centre.

Campaigning for Saturday's Delhi assembly elections ends today. Parties can campaign till 6 pm. Voting will begin at 8 on Saturday morning.