The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would undo the step-motherly treatment meted out to Ghaziabad the area of development. “Development is the only election plank,” claimed Shazia Ilmi, the AAP candidate for Ghaziabad constituency.
Ilmi was speaking to party volunteers and mediapersons at a farmhouse in Indirapuram after being declared the party hopeful of Ghaziabad.
Manish Sisodia, present at the function, said it was the AAP that cleared the extension of Delhi Metro line from Dilshad Garden to New Bus Stand in Ghaziabad. He was shocked to see the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) and BJP president, also the local MP, had installed huge wherein they claimed they had brought the Metro line to the city. Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had detained the Delhi Metro file with her for about two years.
Shazia, on this occasion, said Ghaziabad had been the workplace of the AAP top leadership. Strategically located on two important highways and the most important eastern railway track, the city had often borne the brunt of Government apathy while the adjoining city of Noida had taken precedence, which was, once, a part of Ghaziabad district too. “We shall restore its honour by uplifting the city in various developmental activities,” pledged Ilmi.
A mass communication Masters degree holder from Jamia Millia Islamia, Shazia said she had sacrificed her job as a journalist in Zee News and Star News to serve the country.
She had chosen to contest from Ghaziabad despite being offered to contest from Raebareli, Kanpur and, Mumbai where she had married.
The youth in Ghaziabad cut across the caste and community lines to welcome her. Ghaziabad was also once the prestigious seat of BJP national president Rajnath Singh. The AAP holds major influence here, especially in Trans-Hindon areas
where over 8 lakh votes contribute in the parliamentary constituency. Moreover 4.5 lakh Muslims are the strongest chunk of voters to decide the fate of
the probables.