Like other elections of recent vintage, the BJP is handling Sunday's vote in Delhi with political precision: a parade of some of its biggest names, and careful recruiting of power players from its rivals. So as seniors like Uma Bharti and Smriti Irani campaign in the different precincts of the capital, former ministers like Arvinder Singh Lovely formerly of the Congress have been organized in the BJP fold before Sunday's election for three municipal corporations.
The result will be used as a spot-check of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, whose Aam Aadmi Party won the last state election in 2015 so dramatically that it lost just three seats, all to the BJP. However, a recent by-election just weeks ago saw the party plunge to third position; the BJP won the seat.
Today, patriotic songs beat through the air in Dwarka as thousands of BJP workers and local voters gathered at a major intersection for an appearance by party president Amit Shah. A last-minute cancellation for health reasons saw Mr Shah being deftly replaced with Union Minister Smriti Irani.
"Kejriwal's AAP and Congress will be wiped clean in this election…You show faith in (PM) Modi and he will take care of your… roads, houses and schools," said Ms Irani.
The BJP's off-the-charts victory in Uttar Pradesh last month is also a favourite reference – not just by leaders in their speeches, but by party supporters like Ravikant Chaturvedi, a 34-year-old who ensured 200 people joined him at Ms Irani's rally.
