Be it a man sitting on his haunches by a tea stall, an old man basking in the sunlight, a group of teenagers in the society park or a sweeper cleaning the footpath — people in the Malviya Nagar Assembly constituency of Delhi are taking only one name — Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Somnath Bharti. With only a week to go for Delhi elections, all candidates have been going full throttle with their campaigns.
However, while BJP candidate Dr Nandini Sharma and Congress’ Dr Yoganand Shastri have been doing their groundwork in the constituency, it appears that AAP’s Somnath Bharti is all set to make a comeback in the constituency, though with a lower winning margin this time.
Though voters in the area feel that voting for BJP may help them in terms of having a direct connection with the Central Government, they are all praise for the accessibility that Somnath Bharti has in the constituency. People say that Bharti comes during his morning walks and interacts with the people. He is also loved by most senior citizens in the area.
Sushil Anand, a resident of Malviya Nagar for over 64 years said, “We want someone who will work. There are a lot of issues regarding transport, roads and water in this area and we need someone who is dedicated to the cause of making Malviya Nagar a better residential area. Somnath Bharti comes and talks to people, comes home even and has a cup of tea with me. He hears us out. We don’t even get to see other candidates.”
The Malviya Nagar Assembly constituency is one of the largest constituencies in Delhi and is also one of a kind. Where on one hand you see a posh locality, only about a kilometre later you see a completely opposite picture. The constituency is a mixed bag of the kind of voters there are.
There is no one particular issue that defines the constituency as well. locality wise the problems differ. In planned colonial areas there are problems of corruption, lack of sanitation, transport, road blocks and parking space, while in village areas like Begumpur and Khirki the sanitation and bad roads are the main issues.
Within the constituency there are urbanised villages like Hauz Khas, Adchini and Kalu Sarai. Colonies such as Malviya Nagar, Hauz Khas, Green Park, Gautam Nagar which are mostly where the urban middle class voters reside along with upscale areas dominated with Punjabis and upper middle class voters like Geetanjali Enclave, Sarvodaya Enclave, Neeti Bagh, Gulmohar Park and Safdarjung Enclave are also a part of this constituency. However, areas like Hauz Rani with a massive Muslim vote and parts of the Khirki Village also come under this constituency.
In the 2013 election, this seat was won by Bharti who almost had a lead of 8,000 votes from BJP’s Aarti Mehra. However, this time as AAP works through getting votes from all sects who live in the constituency, BJP’s Dr Nandini Sharma is being fielded from the constituency to mainly gather the large middle-class base. This time Congress has fielded former minister Yoganand Shastri instead of Kiran Walia like the last time. The intention of doing so is to get the Jat vote along with the Muslim vote. However, the Muslim vote in the Hauz Rani-Begumpur belt seems more or less dedicated to AAP.
“There is no way people in this area won’t vote for AAP in Hauz Rani. We believe in having someone as a MlA whom we can approach in case of any problem. Since at least 1995, I have not seen a MlA who has even interacted with the people leave alone helping them. Bharti came as a fresh breeze,” said Deepak Kumar, a vendor at Hauz Rani.
However, the areas where AAP faces a tough fight is where the urban middle class voter resides. In those areas the vote swings more towards BJP. This could well explain why Bharti may not have such a large winning margin unlike earlier.