The Hindu : New Delhi News : DELhi assembly elections 2008

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 18, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

DELhi assembly elections 2008

Ashok Kumar

Jai Bhagwan Aggarwal.

Vijender Jindal.

NEW DELHI: With the Congress pitting a young businessman, Vijender Jindal, against veteran Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Jai Bhagwan Aggarwal for the upcoming Delhi Assembly election, it’s a battle between youth and experience at Rohini in North-West Delhi.

Aiming at a record fourth win, Mr. Aggarwal -- who had earlier won from Badli -- is confident of registering “a big victory”. On the other hand, Mr. Jindal despite being a new face in Delhi politics is determined to begin his political innings on a victorious note.

“I am going to win by a margin of over 50,000 votes,” asserts Mr. Aggarwal, dismissing the Congress candidate as “the weakest ever”.

“The huge crowds cheering our convoy during campaigning are a sure sign of a thumping victory. Log kahte hain aaj apko note mein tol rahe hain, kal vote mein tolenge (People say we are weighing you today in currency notes, tomorrow it will be done in votes),” says Mr. Aggarwal.

Mr. Jindal, however, contends that an anti-incumbency wave is palpable against the BJP candidate and people want a change now. “Mr. Jindal is in his early 40s. About 8 per cent of the voters in Rohini are young and we are trying to reach out to them. It’s a sizeable chunk and could make a big difference,” says Mr. Jindal’s campaign manager Gaurav Dhal.

Considered a BJP bastion, Rohini with a predominantly urban population has been carved out of the erstwhile Badli constituency, which has been represented thrice by Mr. Aggarwal since 1993. All four Municipal Corporation of Delhi councillors from the constituency come from the saffron camp.

Of a total of 160,290 electorate in this constituency, 19 per cent are Scheduled Castes, 13 per cent Yadavs, 12 per cent Muslims and 3 per cent Banias.

“A majority of my supporters are urban people and delimitation has in a way worked to my advantage with all villages and unauthorised colonies now having shifted to the new Badli Assembly constituency,” says Mr. Aggarwal.

Though confident of an impressive win, the BJP cadres fear that a low turnout of voters on polling day could reduce their margin of victory. “An average of 47 per cent polling has been recorded in this Assembly constituency in the past three elections. It is expected to come down further with the villages and unauthorised colonies having been shifted. We have huge support in Sector 9, Sector 13 and Sector 14 of Rohini, but the electorate in such urban areas seldom shows interest in exercising their franchise. Only 30 per cent polling was recorded in the urban areas of Rohini in the past elections,” points out Surender Mohan Lamba, a campaign manager of Mr. Aggarwal.

As such, he adds, one of the salient features of Mr. Aggarwal’s campaign this time round has been to persuade people to come out and vote. “We know when the voter will come out he will vote only for the BJP. If we are able to ensure at least 60 per cent polling, we would win with a record margin,” Mr. Lamba declares.

Rubbishing the Opposition’s claims of a victory, Mr. Jindal says: “The Congress had been losing this seat because of infighting and factionalism. But we have now learnt our lesson and stand united to wrest this constituency from the Opposition. The BJP, on the other hand, is a divided house with the differences between their councillors and the MLA out in the open. His own party men do not want him to win.”

Unlike other parts of Delhi, basic amenities such as water, power and roads are not a dominant issue in Rohini. But the local people do have a longstanding demand for a college in their area and both candidates promise to fulfil it. “We had planned four colleges and the land was also acquired over a decade ago. A medical college has already been opened and buildings for the remaining three colleges will also be constructed soon,” says Mr. Aggarwal.

The BJP leader says he would be pressing for grant of permission to allow spending of MLA Local Area Development Fund in group housing societies and charging of staircase and streetlight electricity bills in societies at domestic rates.

“We have also been raising the issue of multi-crore scam in power privatisation, corruption in Sales Tax Department and terror attacks in the Capital. People do not feel safe anymore and terrorism is a major issue for them,” adds Mr. Aggarwal.

Unlike other Assembly constituencies in North-West Delhi where the Bahujan Samaj Party has emerged as a force to reckon with, the party has little presence in Rohini. “The BSP never had a support base in this Assembly constituency and is not an important factor. It would not poll more than 2 per cent votes,” says Mr. Aggarwal.

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

New Delhi