East Delhi Parliamentary constituency is headed for a keen contest with the sitting two-term Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Sandeep Dikshit leaving no stone unturned to retain it. Aware of the fact that he is up against a strong anti-incumbency mood against the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, Dikshit is banking on his performance to return to the lower House of Parliament.
The landscape of East Delhi better known as Trans Yamuna area has undergone a sea change during the last decade or so with the Delhi Metro spreading its wings and a spate of flyovers, underpasses and Foot Over Bridges (FOBs) being constructed.
With Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) winning five Assembly seats followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with three seats and the Congress with two seats, East Delhi lS constituency will be quite an uphill task for the Congress to retain this politically vital seat. Sandeep Dikshit, who won the constituency twice in a row in 2004 and 2009, is up against Maheish Girri of the BJP and Rajmohan Gandhi of the AAP. The AAP candidate is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. Sandeep Dikshit is reaping the harvest of massive development done by his mother’s Government. Girri has support of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s followers and has been toiling hard in the slums and low lying areas of East Delhi.
There was a time when East Delhi was considered a downmarket habitat for the less fortunate Delhiites. Nowadays, Trans Yamuna has become one of the most sought-after addresses in the National Capital. The ever-expanding horizons of this area, located across the Yamuna, led to a population boom, which further resulted in its bifurcation into two parliamentary constituencies, namely, East Delhi and North-East Delhi. East Delhi had witnessed multi-pronged growth in the early 80s and 90s with the then Delhi strongman, HKl Bhagat, at the helm. Inhabited by hundreds of group housing societies and JJ colonies, East Delhi got a major facelift during the Commonwealth Games, 2010. Sheila Dikshit, the then Chief Minister, oversaw many projects being completed in this part of the city. It witnessed development during the last 10 years or so.
With nearly 18,29,177 voters and a literacy rate of 89.31 per cent across its 10 Assembly constituencies, East Delhi played a significant role in the December 4 Assembly elections. Male ratio is 10,23,068 while female voters account to 80,5958. Gender ratio in east Delhi is 788 females against 1,000 males. Total voter count has seen an increase of 46,574 first timers.
Connectivity to the heart of the city has been enhanced with the Metro running through places like Mayur Vihar Phase I, Akshardham, Shahdara and so on. Vehicular travel time has also reduced with the Barapullah flyover, the UP link Road, ITO Chungi, Gazipur grade separator, Apsara Border flyover, Akshardham clover leaf, NH 24 and a number of foot-over bridges and underpasses.
The Assembly seats in East Delhi comprise Okhla, Jungpura, laxmi Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Patparganj, Vishwas Nagar, Gandhi Nagar, Shahdara, Trilokpuri and Kondli. In terms of close competition in the elections, the region has rather been an easy battle.
A major part of East Delhi falls south of the GT Road in Trans Yamuna but also spreads to the West of the Yamuna covering posh areas like Jangpura and Okhla. It not only contains a large number of group housing societies, DDA flats and opulent colonies, but also has over 100 unauthorised regularised colonies.