The process for bypoll to the vacant Rajouri Garden Assembly seat has started gaining momentum with the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and Congress candidates filing their nomination papers. The election will be held on April 9, days before the national Capital votes to choose councillors for the three corporations on April 22.
Former MlA and Akali Dal leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa has filed his nomination for the Rajouri Garden Assembly constituency as joint candidate of Akali Dal and BJP. “He will contest on BJP’s electoral symbol lotus,” Said a Delhi BJP leader while confirming his nomination.
While for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the bypoll is a critical test of its popularity while for the Congress, the outcome will be significant for its revival. AAP has come up with a new face - Harjeet Singh.
The Rajouri Garden seat fell vacant after AAP leader Jarnail Singh quit to contest the lambi seat in Punjab against Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) patron Parkash Singh Badal. The seat was earlier won by SAD and BJP candidate Manjinder Singh Sirsa in 2013. Jarnail had got 54,916 votes, defeating Sirsa by 10,036 votes in the 2015 Assembly polls (Rajouri Garden).
The Congress has fielded Khyala councillor Meenakshi Chandela as its candidate. Chandela is a two-time councillor of Khyala, her husband Meghraj is also representing Vishnu Garden for the second time. These wards come under the Rajouri Garden Assembly constituency.
If Meenakashi Chandela wins the poll, she will be the first Congress legislator in the current Assembly. The party got decimated in the 2015 elections.
In the recently held Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DGSGMC) election, Sirsa had defeated Paramjit Singh Sarna of Congress-backed SAD (Delhi) group from Punjabi Bagh ward.
Rajouri Garden is dominated by around 50 per cent population of Sikhs and Punjabis. The Assembly constituency is a mix of a resettlement colony in Raghubir Nagar, unauthorised colonies, the middle class Tagore Garden and upscale Rajouri Garden.