Mumbai: BJP's youth wing will target BMC, drug menace

Tajinder Singh Tiwana said combatting the city's drug problem was high on priority list

Tajinder Singh Tiwana, the 35-year-old president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha's Mumbai division, was reappointed to the post on Sunday. Over the past two months, the BJYM's Mumbai division has been overtly proactive, carrying out multiple protests and awareness marches against Mumbai's alleged drug problem, as well as for the safety and security of women. Speaking to mid-day over the phone from New Delhi on Monday, Tiwana explained how his mission and vision will be to focus on bridging the gap between residents and municipal councillors.

'Will approach BMC'

"Looking at the amount of corruption in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the number of problems they cause the common man, from cutting of trees to pothole-ridden roads, we have decided to make a team of 24 individuals, one for each ward. They will coordinate with the BMC about the problems that the residents in their area are facing," he said. "The team members will take the grievances of the residents, and approach their municipal councillors with these issues. Basically, we will be doing the job of councillors themselves - but in our own unique BJYM style. We will request them (BMC) nicely at first, to get the issues resolved, but if they don't, then we will launch massive protests all over Mumbai and push them to do the work," he added.

Pointing that there are currently over 2,70,000 BJYM members across the city, he said they would "effectively utilise the strength of our members on social media" by creating accounts for every member and by "training BJYM members to act, react, and interact" on social media posts.

Using social media

Plans to launch a telegram channel are also in place. He pointed out that combatting the city's drug problem was high on the priority list for the BJYM. "This issue is important because we don't want the educated youth of Mumbai to fall into the trap of the drug mafia," he said.

The role of the BJYM's Mumbai Students' Cell is expected to be amplified under Tiwana's leadership. The BJYM plans to create a 10-member team at every college in Mumbai that will be part of a dedicated student cell whose members will "work like influencers to spread the ideology" as well as introduce new prospects to BJYM cadre.

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