Holding sway in both the reserved constituencies —Ambedkar Nagar and Deoli — in South Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is confident of retaining at least one of them in the coming Assembly elections. With its MlA from Ambedkar Nagar Ashok Kumar Chauhan having switched to BJP this time, the AAP has fielded Ashok Kumar Chauhan from the constituency and party’s sitting MlA from Deoli Prakash Jarwal is seeking reelection from the seat.
With one of the major issues in the area being water, residents in the constituency are more or less convinced that the Kejriwal Government can solve their problem. Though the same “anti-corruption” wave of the party exists in Ambedkar Nagar, many are disappointed with Chauhan and seem rather influenced by BJP’s trump-card candidate Kiran Bedi.
In the 2013 Assembly elections, both these constituencies, Congress’ stronghold, gave way to the AAP and its candidates Chauhan and Jarwal wrested the seats from the Congress. According to the residents of Deoli, other than water and power problems, one of the main things that the AAP promises to end is corruption. “When Kejriwal was the Chief Minister, at least in Deoli, the corruption had significantly gone down,” said a retired banker.
Most of the vendors in the area appear to have tilted in favour of the AAP. They said that it was only during the 49 days of the Kejriwal Government that they were not harassed by cops. lal Bahadur Chaurasia, a tea vendor on the Khanpur-Deoli road, said, “We are always shooed out of our shops when we fail to pay money to cops. Kejriwal had made life easier for us. He is the only support for the poor.”
“As an MlA, I managed to lay water pipelines in around 30 per cent of the constituency. When I get re-elected I will make sure that the remaining 70 per cent is also covered. In one year, I have also installed 220 CCTV cameras in the area and built roads in four blocks. The main focus this time is of development in all sectors with utmost priority given to the water issue,” said Jarwal.
However, in areas like Ambedkar Nagar and Sangam Vihar, there was a Kiran Bedi factor that overtook the charisma of Kejriwal. Rajinder, a shopkeeper in Sangam Vihar, said, “So far I was supporting Kejriwal. I haven’t seen the party do much work in the constituency but as a CM he was very good for the city. However, ever since Kiran Bedi became BJP’s CM face, I’m in a dilemma. If I vote for the BJP, it will be a vote for Bedi because she has a persona which is stronger than Kejriwal’s. She can be a promising leader and with BJP’s support she can do wonders.”
If the Bedi factor manages to cut into these areas, then AAP may find itself in a sticky spot. However, Jarwal seemed quite confident of AAP’s victory not only in the two reserved Assembly seats, but in total six seats from South Delhi, including Chattarpur and Tughlakabad, which saw a BJP MlA in 2013. “I have been campaigning in the area daily and even been going door-to-door and talking to people. I am certain that the AAP will win in at least six constituencies in South Delhi,” said Jarwal.