The Hindu : New Delhi News : Fight for Rajendra Nagar on

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Tuesday, Dec 02, 2008
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New Delhi

Fight for Rajendra Nagar on

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

NEW DELHI: While Delhi has already voted for electing its representatives for 69 of the 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly, the fight for the Rajendra Nagar constituency is still on. Voting here had been re-scheduled for December 13 following the death of BJP candidate Puran Chand Yogi, and now his widow Asha is fighting on the party ticket against Congress chief whip Ramakant Goswami.

BSP factor

The constituency with a vote base of over 1.45 lakh has an interesting mix of voters, with 22 per cent belonging to Scheduled Castes, 20 per cent Poorvanchalis and OBCs, 15 per cent Punjabis, seven per cent Banias, and 5 per cent each being Yadavs, South Indians and Brahmin/Rajputs. What has made the contest even more interesting is the BSP candidate who is seeking to woo a large number of voters living in various jhuggi camps that dot the constituency.

‘Direct fight’

Mr. Goswami, however, does not see him as a threat and believes it is a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP. Campaigning in the constituency for the last several weeks now, the Congress candidate has already covered about 60 per cent of the area on foot through his door-to-door campaign. “I set out at 7-30 in the morning and keep moving through the constituency till about 4 p.m. My campaign is based around the development work having been undertaken by the Sheila Dikshit Government in the past ten years. Also, people know me for the work I had done in Patel Nagar earlier.”

The Congress candidate is confident of winning the election and believes the party would once again form the government in Delhi. “People have given a positive vote to the Sheila Government,” he says.

‘For the sake of husband’

For BJP candidate Ms. Yogi the election is all about winning for her husband. “Mere to aansoo bhi nahin sookhe the” (Even my tears had not dried up), she says, that people began thronging her urging her to carry on the legacy of her late husband. “I have been involved in politics with my husband. In his absence I used to listen to people and interact with them. People obviously know me because of him.”

Stating that she has not even had the time to grieve over her husband’s passing away, Ms. Yogi insists that becoming an MLA would help her not only serve the people the way her husband did, but also allow her to utilise her time more productively.

“I was also approached by a lot of party workers who wanted me to fight the election as they did not want the ticket to go to selfish people and the party also wanted me to continue with the battle. So here I am,” she says, adding that apart from going to religious meetings and congregations where a large number of people are present she has also been addressing corner meetings on a regular basis.

Ms. Yogi believes that the BSP is also a factor to reckon with in the area but is confident that people ultimately will vote for her.

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