It may not be easy sailing for BJP candidates to Delhi Assembly from the Punjabi and Sikh dominated constituencies of Tilak Nagar and Hari Nagar. In order to wrest control from the traditional votebanks of BJP, the ruling Congress party in the Capital may soon field popular singer Daler Mehndi, tipped to join the party on Friday, from either of the two seats that have been BJP strongholds.
While BJP’s OP Babbar, a Punjabi, is the legislator from Tilak Nagar Assembly seat, another BJP veteran Harsharan Singh Balli, a Sikh, represents the Hari Nagar Assembly constituency.
Mehndi, former NCP Delhi unit chief Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, sitting MlAs Ram Singh Netaji from Badarpur, Asif Mohammad Khan from Okhla and a former municipal councillor Dr VK Monga are all set to make entry into Congress fold on Friday in presence of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Delhi Congress chief Jai Prakash Agarwal and in-charge of Delhi affairs, Shakeel Ahmed.
Congress leadership in Delhi feels that by inviting them into the party fold, the Congress is trying to consolidate its position not only among minorities but also looking at improving its prospects in the impending lok Sabha elections. Rumours are rife that Matia Mahal MlA Shoaib Iqbal is also planning to join Congress soon.
Punjabi singer Daler Mehndi would also be entering the political fray by aligning himself with the Congress. With Mehndi, a one time resident of West Delhi, the Congress is expecting to make deeper inroads into the Sikh community, which had voted the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) group to power in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee elections almost a decade later earlier this year.
Asif Mohammad Khan was an Independent councillor before he fought and won the last Assembly election from Okhla on the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) symbol.
Okhla is a segment of the East Delhi Parliamentary constituency, which is represented by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s son Sandeep Dikshit. Ensuring a consolidation of minority votes there in favour of the Congress would bolster his prospects in the next elections as well.
Two-time MlA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri had incidentally fought and lost the last Assembly election on a Congress ticket from Badarpur. After the loss, in which he felt some Congress leaders had worked against him, Bidhuri had quit the party.
Having six councillors in the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and a significant presence in several Assembly segments, the senior leader from the Gujjar community said he was still awaiting clarifications from the Congress central leadership and would take a final decision after consulting his supporters.
Ram Singh Netaji is a former Congress MlA who had represented the party from Badarpur earlier. In the last Assembly election, he had won on a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ticket.