Other States - New Delhi   

Cong. stronghold: yesterday, today, ... .

By Lalit K. Jha

NEW DELHI NOV. 17. The mass exodus of people over the past decade and blatant commercialisation of the area have changed the demographic profile of the Walled City tremendously. In addition, it has affected the voting pattern and outcome of results in the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat. Traditionally a Congress bastion, the BJP MP, Vijay Goel, holds the Parliamentary seat at present. Predominantly a Muslim area, the seat comprises four Assembly segments -- Paharganj, Matia Mahal, Ballimaran, and Chandni Chowk.

Billed as the smallest Parliamentary constituency of Delhi, Chandni Chowk is a business centre with high concentration of wholesale markets and guesthouses. These include big markets like the electrical and chemical market in Bhagirath Place, the dry fruits market in Khari Baoli and the Krishna Market in Ajmeri Gate. Understandably, this area is considered a big money spinner for political parties for raising funds. Despite Mr. Goel being the MP here, the BJP does not have any representative in the Assembly. While Paharganj, Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk are with the ruling Congress, Matia Mahal is held by the lone Janata Dal (Secular) MLA, Shoaib Iqbal, who holds sway over the electorate in his constituency.

The 1998 Assembly polls witnessed a landslide victory for the Congress in Paharganj where the glamorous Anjali Rai defeated her nearest BJP rival Nirmal Khandelwal by a margin of 16,848 votes. Now the Chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, Ms. Rai is once again in the fray seeking re-election and is pitted against Virender Babar of the BJP. Ms. Rai faces internal party dissensions and protests but is confident of making it for the second time. The seat has over 100 polling booths and more than 90,000 voters. Besides, Muslims and Jatavs, who are in sizeable numbers here, there are around 15,000 Jain voters and a similar number of Baniya voters. In 1993, Satish Chand Khandelwal of the BJP had defeated Hari Chand Verma of the Congress by a margin of 4,014 votes, while Shakee-ur-Rehman of the Janata Dal had polled 11,148 votes. In the March 2002 municipal polls, the Congress was ahead of the BJP by 15,613 votes.

With more than three-fourths of the around 80,000 voters being Muslims, Matia Mahal is a sure shot bet for the Janata Dal (S) candidate and two-time MLA, Shoaib Iqbal. In the 1998 election, Mr. Iqbal had defeated Aziz Ahmad Siddiqui of the Congress by a huge margin of 19,916 votes and the remaining nine candidates had forfeited their deposits. Qureshi, Ansari, Pathan and Sufi communities dominate this constituency. In the 1993 polls, Mr. Iqbal had defeated Begum Khursheed of the BJP by 19,945 votes and the rest of the 21 candidates including Congress's Mehmood Pracha forfeited their deposits. This time the Congress candidate, Azhar Shagufa, challenges him in his bastion. Even during the municipal polls, candidates of the Janata Dal (Secular) led by more than 11,000 votes.

In the Ballimaran seat, which boasts of housing the heritage of one of the greatest poets, Mirza Ghalib, the Delhi's Food and Supplies Minister, Haroon Yusuf, is seeking to score a hat trick. A Muslim dominated seat, Ballimaran also has a significant presence of Hindu Brahmin voters. Mr. Yusuf had defeated Vishwamber Dutt Sharma of the BJP by 23,843 votes in 1998 polls. During the 1993 polls, Mr. Yusuf had defeated Mr. Sharma by a narrow margin of 1,491 votes. The Janata Dal candidate, Raj Kumar Jain, had polled 10,146 votes at that time. There are 96,000 voters in this constituency. In the last municipal polls, the Congress had a lead of 14,000 votes against the BJP, which has fielded Rajkishore.

In the prestigious Chandni Chowk seat, the present incumbent Prahlad Singh Sawhney of the Congress had defeated Viresh Pratap Chaudhary of the BJP by 8,162 votes in the 1998 polls. There are about 98,000 voters in this constituency. The seat favours the Congress as the traditional BJP voters have left the area in view of the blatant commercialisation. However, the electors of the area are dissatisfied with Mr. Sawhney mainly because of poor development works executed by him. During 1993 polls, Vasudev Kaptan of the BJP had defeated M.M. Aggarwal of the Congress by a margin of 4,454 votes. This time the BJP has fielded Dharmveer Sharma. The party had lost badly in the municipal polls including the humiliating defeat of the then Mayor, Shanti Desai.

The issues in the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat are quite common. The problem of ever increasing congestion which is now affecting business, civic amenities bursting at the seams and blatant commercialisation are likely to dominate the election campaign.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Other States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Cong. stronghold: yesterday, today, ... .
• BJP Dalit leader joins Congress
• EC seeks undertaking on school bags
• Stress on right living
• School annual day
• 'Rebels will be expelled'
• Haroon Yusuf gets the nod

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu