Chandni Chowk, once, the smallest Parliamentary constituency of Delhi is now the busiest business hub with a high concentration of small scale industries in residential areas, wholesale markets and guesthouses. It has traditionally been a Congress domain except in 1977 when Sikandar Bakht won on a Janata Party ticket, Tara Chand Khandelwal of BJP in 1991 and Vijay Goel twice on the trot by a slender margin in 1998 and 1999
Till 1857, Shahjahanabad, named after its founder, Emperor Shahjahan, was the capital of Mughal India. Today, it is better known by the name of its principal street — Chandni Chowk. But post-delimitation, the eponymous Chandni Chowk lok Sabha constituency extends way beyond the Walled City of Shahjahan. Till the 2004 General Elections, Chandni Chowk was the smallest parliamentary constituency in the country with an area of 10.59 sq. km. Now, it encompasses not only the congested commercial stretch of Sadar Bazar and the quaint Civil lines but also the slums of Jahangirpuri. Thanks to the constituency’s expansion, political issues concerning it have grown manifold.
With the migration of people (in-out) at mass level during last 15 years, the demographic and voting pattern has also been affected. Rapid commercialisation forced people, residing in the narrow lanes of Walled City, to move out but on the other hand, a large part of the minority people preferred to stay in the ghettos. It would be pertinent to mention that the traditional voters of BJP such as Bania and Punjabi have since migrated from Sadar Bazar, Chandni Chowk, Model Town, Adarsh Nagar, Tri Nagar and Wazirpur to neighbouring areas like Ghaziabad, Noida, Shahibabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad. The shifting of traditional voters from Chandni Chowk has made it tough for the BJP.
In 1957, Chandni Chowk constituency was carved out as a lok Sabha seat from the Delhi City parliamentary constituency comprising four Assembly segments —Chandni Chowk, Ballimaran, Matia Mahal and Paharganj. At present, after redrawing the boundaries of constituencies, it comprises 10 Assembly seats, mainly carved out from erstwhile Outer Delhi, East Delhi and Sadar Bazar. Adarsh Nagar, Model Town, Shalimar Bagh, Wazirpur, Tri Nagar, Shakur Basti, Sadar Bazar, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk and Matia Mahal now are part of Chandni Chowk with 14.35 lakh voters. The constituency has 35 per cent Bania and Punjabi voters, 20 Muslim, 26 per cent Scheduled Caste, 9 per cent Brahmin and 2 per cent others.
After the implementation of the recommendation of Delimitation Commission, Chandni Chowk, traditionally a Congress stronghold, has grown in terms of the number of voters and turned into a more complex constituency with the presence of a sizeable number of Vaish, Punjabis and Scheduled Caste (SC) electorates. With the addition of seven more Assembly constituencies and removal of Paharganj Chandni Chowk, the share of Muslims voters has reduced to 15 per cent along with Vaish and Punjabi, which make up 30 per cent together. With the presence of a decent number of SC votes, the fray may turn out to be tough for the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the results may come as a surprise to poll punters. Statistics shows that the addition of unauthorised colonies and JJ clusters from Outer Delhi and East constituencies like Wazirpur, Model Town, Adarsh Nagar, Shakur Basti and strong presence of OBC (18.83 per cent) and SC (16 per cent) vote bank may not augur well for the saffron fold. These sections are not traditional BJP supporters. In the last Assembly elections, Congress managed to win seven seats while BJP could grab two and Matia Mahal went to the lok Janshakti Party (lJP).
The issues in the 10 Assembly constituencies falling under Chandni Chowk lok Sabha seat are quite common. The problems of ever increasing congestion, illegal encroachment, which is now affecting business, civic amenities bursting at the seams and sealing are likely to dominate the election campaign. Besides price rise, inflated water and power bills, erratic supply of water, poor infrastructure in major market areas are other grouses.
Parties Caste net wide
Assembly MlA Party No. of Electorates(caste wise constituents)
Ballimaran Haroon Yusuf 1,07,364 voters (48 per cent Muslim, 18
per cent OBC, 15 per cent SC, 11 per cent
Bania, 3 per cent Brahmin, 2 per cent Sikh)
Chandni Chowk Prahlad Singh 1,04,373 (20 per cent Muslim, 14
Sahwney per cent SC, 20 per cent Bania, 24
per cent Other Backward Classes, 7
per cent Brahmin, 3 per cent Punjabi,
3 per cent refugees of Tibet (who are
registered as voters here)
Matia Mahal Shoaib Iqbal 1,07,364 (48 per cent Muslim, 18 per cent
OBC, 15 per cent SC, 11 per cent
Bania, 3 per cent Brahmin, 2 per cent Sikh
population)
Sadar Bazar Rajesh Jain 1,28,963 (36 per cent Muslim, 7 per cent
Punjabi khatri, 8 per cent Bania,
22 per cent Scheduled Caste,
14 per cent others, 2 per cent Brahmin,
1 per cent Sikh
Wazirpur Hari Shankar 1,52,596 (15 per cent Punjabi khatri,
Gupta 10 per cent Bania, 23 per cent SC,
10 per cent Poorvanchali, 20 per cent OBC)
Tri Nagar Anil Bhardwaj 1,42,898 (16 per cent SC, 18
per cent Punjabi khatri, 20 per cent Bania,
12 per cent Brahmin, 13 per cent Poorvanchali, 6 per cent Gujjar, 5 per cent Muslim)
Shakur Basti Shyam lal Garg 1,30,722 ( 25 per cent Punjabi, 25 per cent
Bania, 10 per cent Brahmin)
Adarsh Nagar Mangat Ram 1,41,892 (18 per cent Bania, 15
Singhal per cent Punjabi, 16 per cent SC, 29 per cent
jhuggi dwellers and others, 8 per cent
Brahmin, 11 per cent Muslim, 2 per cent Sikh)
Model Town Kunwar Karan 1,36,262 (17 per cent Punjabi khatri, 15
Singh per cent Bania, 19 per cent SC, 10 per cent
Poorvanchali, 4 per cent Sikh, 4 per cent
Muslim, 20 per cent OBC)
Shalimar Bagh Ravinder Bansal 1,51,659 (25 per cent Bania, 20 per cent
Punjabi khatri, 11 per cent SC, 15 per cent
others and Muslim, 9 per cent Yadav, 9
per cent jhuggi dwellers, 7 per cent Brahmin)