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By Our Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI, MAY 15 . Even though the Congress received support from a wide cross-section of voters in the Capital in the Lok Sabha elections, it was the outright support of the Poorvanchal and Gujjar communities that enabled it to virtually sweep Delhi. The support extended by these two major communities ensured that the party ended up with six of the seven seats from Delhi with the Bharatiya Janata Party getting only one. "It is a fact that the Poorvanchalis and Gujjars contributed a lot to the victory of the Congress candidates. In East Delhi and Outer Delhi especially, the Poorvanchal and Gujjar communities came out strongly in favour of the Congress, dumping the BJP that had failed to live up to their aspirations,'' said the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit. She commended the role played by the party MLA and Poorvanchal leader, Mahabal Mishra, in enrolling the support of the community, especially the Bihar migrant voters. Interestingly, Ms. Dikshit's viewpoint was also endorsed by the newly elected Outer Delhi Member of Parliament, Sajjan Kumar, who felt that Mr. Mishra had played a big role in his victory as well. A large number of Congress leaders accept the fact that this vote bank has come here to stay and one cannot afford to ignore it any longer. The Poorvanchal community has thrown its weight behind the Congress with the hope that it would get representation in the Government in some form or the other. It is for the first time that Mr.Mishra has been used by the party to garner support among the Poorvanchal community, especially lakhs of migrants from Bihar, for the Congress party. He had been in great demand during the parliamentary polls and was often referred to by the electorate and party supporters as "Delhi ka Laloo''. Mr. Mishra addressed important meetings in favour of the former Union Minister, Jagdish Tytler, in Delhi Sadar and for Ajay Maken in the New Delhi constituency. "The Poorvanchal vote bank can no longer be ignored. They have become the deciding factor in a large number of Assembly segments. In Outer Delhi and East Delhi, they virtually decide the outcome of the polls as a large population resides in these areas,'' remarked a senior party leader. A huge Poorvanchal population is of Brahmin origin, but this time they decided to back the Congress instead of the BJP as they used to do earlier. Mr. Mishra was asked by the party leaders not to canvass openly but to work behind the scenes. He not only enrolled the support of this community but also brought into the party fold some important Poorvanchal BJP leaders from East Delhi that boosted the confidence of the workers as well as the contesting candidate. On the other hand, despite the failure of the so-called Gujjar leader and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Chief Minister, Nasib Singh, to win from his own Vishwas Nagar segment, the Gujjars had overwhelmingly voted in favour of the Congress in all the constituencies. Congressmen acknowledge that it was the campaigning by the prominent Gujjar leader and party ally, the Nationalist Congress Party MLA, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, for the Congress candidates that ensured victory in Gujjar belts.
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