New Delhi: The modern chroniclers of Delhi call it an overgrown village. They are right. Delhi is a cluster of hundreds of villages. Most of these villages have lost their character and acquired cosmopolitan nature over the years. But, some still look like villages.
Assembly constituencies like Chhattarpur, Mehrauli, Tugalaqabad, Badarpur, Najafgarh, Bawana, Mundka and Narela are predominantly rural seats. These seats have been Congress strongholds for decades.
Later the BJP made inroads into these seats in the 1990s. Now the Congress has been replaced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi's rural areas.
In the 2013 Assembly polls, the BJP did quiet well in rural Delhi. This time the AAP is trying to capture some of the rural seats from the BJP. The rural Delhi is now witnessing a fierce battle between the BJP and the AAP.
The two important rural assembly seats in South Delhi are Chhattarpur and Mehrauli.
Chhattarpur:
Chhattarpur in South West Delhi is the greenest assembly seat in entire Delhi. It is home to over 1000 small and big farms houses, worth thousands of crores at today's market value. It also has some agricultural land, though most of the famers earn huge money from real estate and only a few still do farming. The constituency also has a thick forest cover spread over several square miles.
Chhattarpur has a dubious distinction. It is home to some of the richest people in Delhi who own huge farm houses and some very rich local farmers. At the same time, the constituency is home to a large number of poor people, who struggle to eke out a decent living. Most of the farm workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have voting rights here. Only a few from Orissa have enrolled themselves for voting here.
It has retained most of its distinct village characters and has the laid back life of any rural area. Like rest of the rural areas in India, caste affiliations are very strong here. The village elders still command a lot of respect and wield enormous clout. They decide what is good or bad for rest of the people in their villages. Many villages still have khap panchayats.
Chhattarpur is currently witnessing a fierce electoral battle between the BJP and the AAP. The Congress which once ruled the area is fighting for the third place.
Since it is a Gujjar dominated seat, all three parties - BJP, AAP and Congress have fielded Gujjar candidates with the same surname - Tanwar. They are also related to each other.
The BJP has once again fielded its sitting MLA Brahm Singh Tanwar. He has been an MLA for the past 15 years. The AAP has fielded a former BJP councilor Kartar Singh Tanwar. He joined the AAP just ahead of the election after realising that he was not getting the BJP ticket. The Congress has fielded Balram Singh Tanwar, who was an MLA for 10 years.
However, the main fight is between the BJP and the Congress. According to a local Sikh trader who sells agricultural products, there are 8 Gujjar villages; 4-5 Jat villages, two Muslim villages and the Sikhs have a good number of votes in the constituency.
He said, "All three candidates are related to each other. We have already given chance to Brahm Singh and Balram Singh. This time, we are planning to elect the AAP candidate Kartar Singh."
When asked about Kartar Singh's BJP background he said, "It is true that he has nothing to do with the AAP. He was with the BJP till recently. For assembly ticket he has joined the AAP. If Kejriwal can give ticket to defectors from the BJP, what is our problem? You ask Kejriwal about that."
A local BJP leader Devender Katana argues that the AAP giving ticket to a BJP leader has not gone down well with the local AAP supporters and it will help the BJP. He says that the AAP candidate is a rank outsider to the party and it exposes the hypocrisy of Kejriwal's 'clean' politics agenda.
Attacking the AAP candidate Kartar Singh Tanwar, he alleged, "We know that he paid money for the ticket. He is now offering Rs 2000 per vote. He is spending money like water. There is no difference between the AAP and other political parties. People understand everything. The AAP will lose to BJP again."
Reacting to these allegations, an AAP leader said, "It is a known fact that the BJP is trying to tarnish the image of our party. They are spreading all kinds of rumours against us. It shows BJP's desperation. There is no Modi wave, this time. The BJP will lose badly."
Chhattarpur has seen some development in the last 15 years. Local Congress leaders claim credit for that. They give credit to former chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
However, Congress candidate Balram Singh Tanwar is on a very weak wicket here. Most of his rank and file has either crossed over to the AAP or to the BJP. He is fighting a lone battle. Some BJP leaders in the area also admit in private that AAP candidate Kartar Singh Tanwar might easily win this time.
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal came to the constituency for campaigning and was pelted with rotten eggs and tomatoes. He blamed the BJP for the attack. The BJP claims that Kejriwal himself orchestrated the attack to gain sympathy of the voters.
Chhattarpur is a 'do or die' battle for the BJP and its sitting MLA Brahm Singh Tanwar is leaving no stone unturned to retain the prestigious seat.
Mehrauli
Neghbouring Mehrauli is one of the oldest villages in Delhi. It is home to a world heritage monument Qutub Minar, a pre-Mughal era tower and many other ancient monuments. Mehrauli village has a bustling market and also a vibrant village life. Both co-exist.
Here famous designer brands like Sabyasachi showrooms rub shoulder with a cheap local brand. It also has some of the best eateries and pubs. But, the core of Mehrauli life is still rural. Mehrauli seat also has posh areas of Delhi like Vasant Kunj under its jurisdiction.
It is pre-dominantly a Jat constituency and elected only Jats in the past. The electoral arena of Mehrauli is not different from Chhattarpur.
Like Chhattarpur, AAP candidate of Mehrauli Naresh Yadav is also a defector from the BJP. Before the BJP, he was associated with the Congress. All three major political parties have fielded Jats from here. Pravesh Singh Verma who won on the BJP ticket last time got elected to the Lok Sabha in May 2014.
The AAP had earlier announced the name of Govardhan Singh as its candidate from Mehrauli. But, closer to the election, dropped his name and gave ticket to party hopper Naresh Yadav. It led to protests and the local unit of the AAP is not happy with this.
AAP chief Kejriwal alleges that Govardhan Singh's family had ferried voters to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally at Ram Lila Maidan in their family owned buses and his ticket was withdrawn for anti-party activities.
The BJP has fielded former Mayor of South Delhi Municipal Corporation Sarita Chaudhury from Mehrauli. The BJP claims that her good image will bring them votes. The Congress has fielded Satbir Singh from Mehrauli. Like Balram Singh Tanwar in Chhattarpur, Satbir Singh is also struggling to give a good fight. The BSP of Mayawati has also fielded a candidate from here.
According to a local BJP leader Ashok Sharma, declaring Kiran Bedi as Delhi Chief Ministerial candidate of the BJP is helping the party and her clean image could get them good number votes in the constituency.
Some of them even argue that American President Barack Obama's visit to New Delhi has also helped the BJP to improve its image. The BJP leaders and workers argue that Kejriwal has been exposed after he gave tickets to the BJP turncoats and the BJP will use it to attack him.
Rural parts of Mehrauli still lack many basic amenities like running water, drainage, bigger roads and sewerage. During the rain these parts get flooded. There are many unauthorised colonies in the area and all three major political parties are promising to regularise them if voted to power.
Workers of the respective parties are hoping that their top leaders will come for the campaign.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi also owns a farm house between Mehrauli and Chhattarpur. She has inherited it from her mother-in-law, the late prime minister Indira Gandhi. The farm house is currently jointly owned by her children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
But, the Congress which once ruled these areas is fading way very fast leaving the political space open for the new entrant AAP.
A visit to Chhattarpur and Mehrauli prove that there is not much difference between all three major players - BJP, AAP and Congress in this election. All of them have fielded the candidates based on their caste, money and muscle power to win the seats at any cost.
At least in these seats, the AAP can't claim that it has fielded candidates based on their character and acceptance among the people. AAP candidates from both the seats could be anything, but ordinary people (Aam Aadmi).
(All photos courtesy Shivaprasad Shetty)
Comments
0 comment