Ground situation in four Assembly constituencies in North-East Delhi
By M. Anas, IndiaTomorrow.net,
New Delhi, 02 Feb 2015: Contrary to what is appearing in the mainstream media, Delhi Assembly polls are more about civic issues than political rhetoric and personal abuses being exchanged between Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party leaders. People on the ground are overtly insisting on daily life issues like water, electricity supply, menace of local police, harassment of daily wage labourers, almost non-existence of some basic government facilities like schools and hospitals in places like trans-Yamuna areas. And perhaps this is where AAP is fast making gains over pollsters’ favourite BJP.
The contest for Delhi Assembly elections in Mustafabad, Gokalpur, Babarpur and Kondli is between the Bharatiya Janta Party, Aam Admi Party, Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party. A tour of these constituencies in North East Delhi revealed that the parties seeking to win from here must fulfil local demands which dominate electorate’s minds. In Mustafabad, Congress seems to have better chances of winning; Gokalpur seems tilted towards AAP; Babarpur is witnessing a BJP-AAP fight whereas Kondli, a reserved seat, is headed for a three-way contest among BJP, AAP and BSP.
The Mustafabad vote is divided on religious lines. Core Muslim voters favour incumbent Congress MLA, Hasan Ahmed. Nayim Ahmad, a scrap dealer living here said, “My vote will remain with the Congress. Delhi may choose Kiran Bedi as CM but that does not matter to people like us.” Similarly, another dealer Nafees said, “We get electricity, timely water and pucca roads. What else would we want?” However, some Muslims admire Md. Yunus, the AAP candidate. Md. Yunus said, “We have about 53% Muslims and 47% Hindus and I am sure, they will vote for AAP. There is a sarkari school here but in a deplorable condition. There needs to be education and AAP will provide that. There is no vikas (development) and conditions of galis (lanes) needs improvement. I am confident that Congress will this time see that janta (people) is with us.” Shiraz, AAP election in-charge of the area, said, “AAP promises new schools and community centres. These facilities are lacking in our area and thus people are showing interest in us. Hopefully they will vote for us too.” Besides Muslims, AAP is wooing Muslims and Dalits (valmikis and jatavs) into its fold. The mildest voice in the area is of the traditional Hindu voter base of the BJP says a DTC bus conductor Puran Singh.
The Gokalpur constituency is witnessing a showdown between BJP and AAP. BJP’s incumbent MLA Ranjeet Singh seems to be losing his popularity and the middle class voters indicate a shift towards AAP. A mobile shop worker and AAP supporter, Kuldeep Kumar said, “AAP got us bijli pani at reduced rates. Kejriwal was the first CM to have slept on the roads. We want to give him another chance.” Locals are angry that their demands of pucca roads, covered sewers, public toilets and jobs have not been met. Young voters of Gokalpur said, “We understand the simple and direct language which Kejriwal speaks and so we are with him.” BJP incumbent Ranjeet Singh responds, “BJP is strong as I have found out through my padyatras. I am working for people and I have already begun improving sewer lines here. I will take care of schools, toilet facilities, hospitals, and streets once I am voted to power for the next five years.”
The Babarpur constituency is divided on religious and community lines. BJP’s incumbent MLA Naresh Gaur and AAP’s candidate Gopal Rai are in for a fight. BJP’s incumbent Naresh Gaur said “I have taken care of people’s demands and fulfilled the promises I made to them. I have put to place sewer facilities, have got built kabristan and shamshan ghats. There are cemented streets and parks for children and women to go to, there are schools opened up and currently, I am building recreation centres for elderly. The traffic jam on roads would also disperse once we get a BJP Chief Minister. People in Babarpur have no problems with us and will vote us to power again.” The Hindu votes of small and medium scale businessmen side with the BJP. A female shopkeeper, Babita, said, “I want to directly communicate with Modi and Kiran Bedi and my way will be by voting for BJP.” She added, “I want change. I welcome Kiran Bedi as she is a strong leader and will work for us.” Rajiv Arora, who has recently opened a hotel in the area, said, “We are staunch BJP supporters but request our MLA Gaur to get us a traffic police officer stationed in the area to dispel the huge and long traffic jams; to reopen the nearby police booth and maintain cleanliness in the area for I don’t want to scare away my customers.” A dairy owner, however, said that he would go with AAP as it cut down on police menace and bribe taking during its 49-day stint. They could get voter id cards or ration cards made without greasing palms. Muslims of Babarpur are going the whole hog with Congress’ Zakir Khan who is working relentlessly to uplift the community through his social networking in recent months.
In the reserved constituency of Kondli, the voters are divided among BJP, AAP and BSP supporters. AAP incumbent, MLA Manoj Kumar, said, “The Hindus and the Muslims will vote for AAP. In Kondli, people want bijli, pani, street construction which AAP will provide them. People saw Modi’s 10 January lacklustre rally and know there is internal party feud with regard to Kiran Bedi coming in as CM contender, karyakartas of BJP feel alienated.”
As for majority Dalits votes there will be a division among BJP, AAP and BSP. One Raj Bala, a woman shoe seller and businesswoman said, “The Dalit vote would go to BSP. I prefer to side with my own community.” According to a BJP office-bearer, Vijay Gautam, “There are 55% Dalits, who have shown inclination towards BJP also. The approximate 35% Hindus including Brahmins are likely to stay with us. People want pucca colonies, roads, hospitals, and covered sewage. We educate the new settlers that BJP will fulfil your demands.” As for AAP eating into BJP vote share, Bijender Sharma, a property dealer and BJP supporter said, “Village pundits, barbers, pot makers, vegetable vendors will vote for BJP except the new settlers who could be swept away by AAP.”
Zero expenditure by Delhi BJP MPs
Yogendra Yadav, a senior member of AAP, told this correspondent that none of seven BJP MPs in the capital have spent a single penny from the area development fund in their respective constituencies even after nine months of the Modi government. “You can check their record with the Ministry of Programme Implementation and Statistics. They have not recommended a single development work in their area. Voters are also aware of this dismal record of their MPs whom they elected very recently,” Yadav said. When two BJP MPs, Udit Raj and Manoj Tiwari, were contacted for their comment on this, they refused to comment. While a Delhi BJP spokesman said that if MPs are not working in their constituencies, they will be hauled up by Prime Minister Modi himself. “It is not that BJP is not aware of its MPs record. We are only waiting for Delhi elections to be over. Non-performing MPs will be taken to task himself. Prime Minister Office (PMO) itself keeps a record of MP’s performance and they will be conveyed on this soon,” spokesman said.
Analyst’s views
As the election enters its last lap of campaign, analysts like senior journalists MJ Akbar and Pankaj Vohra have opined that Delhi elections are not so open as they being reflected upon in some popular TV channels and newspapers. “Delhi’s heavily mixed electorate often encourages commentators to believe that it is a microcosm of other parts of India. This is a fallacy. Every voter makes up his or her mind on the basis of problems in the immediate environment, not on what happens elsewhere,” wrote Akbar in his latest column. Since Akbar is the national spokesman of the BJP, he didn’t find his party as clear cut favourite and rather put his faith in people’s aspiration of seeking solution to their local problems.
Pankaj Vohra, who has covered Delhi for the last three decades, diagnosed a rot within Delhi BJP after the party made former super cop turned activist Kiran Bedi as its chief ministerial candidate.
“Kiran Bedi formula has not worked for BJP. Rather it has divided the organization down the line and thus AAP has caught up very close to BJP as favourite to win this election. Besides, how Congress candidates garner votes in their areas will also decide which party will sail through. Overall, this election has all the makings of a dead heat contest,” concluded Vohra.
