The Leaders Behind BJP's Silent Surge in Delhi

BJP's Delhi victory, after 27 years, resulted from cultural outreach and grassroots efforts by Pawan Rana and Santosh Ojha, among others.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA

Behind the Bharatiya Janata Party's victory in Delhi Assembly elections, which came after a 27-year gap, lies a story of deep cultural connection, meticulous grassroots mobilization, and the relentless efforts of two men from the organization—Pawan Rana and Santosh Ojha—who, along with other party functionaries and leaders, orchestrated BJP's resurgence from behind the scenes.

The difference was that both Rana, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, and Ojha, a native of Bihar, worked silently, away from the spotlight.

Pawan Rana, the party's organizational general secretary who was brought to Delhi in April 2023, played a crucial role in BJP's electoral strategy by ensuring that every prominent leader was responsible for polling booths in their constituencies. This was a difficult task, given that most of the party leaders in Delhi considered themselves to be 'big' leaders. Yet, Rana, backed by support from Union Home Minister Amit Shah, made it clear that every leader, no matter how prominent, would be held accountable for the votes secured at the booths in their respective areas of influence. This led to top leaders becoming active on the ground, something that had not happened in previous elections.

Rana mandated a meticulous booth-wise analysis focusing on the caste and religious composition of the voters and fixed accountability for these analyses at every level. This data and analysis became the backbone for subsequent tailored election campaigns, where resources were allocated according to specific needs rather than uniformly across all seats.