Deepak Nagpal
Delhi goes to polls on November 29, 2008. The day will decide whether Sheila Dikshit gets a third consecutive term to rule the national capital. She, as Delhi’s Chief Minister, has already created history by winning a second consecutive term in 2003, after first coming to power in 1998.
Apart from the Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government, no other party has won a second successive term in the capital’s history. She is also the longest serving woman Chief Minister. Whether she will emerge victorious a third successive time, only time will decide.
Delhi is a metropolitan city. Here, factors that play a more important role in deciding any political party’s fate include development, provision of basic amenities, standard of living etc, instead of caste, religion, mass leader and so on like in other parts of the country. In 2003, the Sheila Dikshit government mainly won the re-election on the issue of development – the flyovers that rose from the ground during her first term, the arrival of a world-class Delhi Metro etc. This time around too, development will remain the ‘issue’ for Congress.
"For 10 years we have worked for the people of Delhi, we would like to take that work forward," Sheila Dikshit said. However, she knows well that her government faces a strong anti-incumbency factor this time after ruling the capital for 10 years.
The main opposition BJP has listed issues of inflation and terrorism as its best bet to come to power.
"Our party is ready and we hope we will win with two-thirds majority, similar to the way we won in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi elections," said Vijay Kumar Malhotra, the BJP`s veteran leader and their chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming polls.
In total, there are 70 Assembly seats in Delhi. Out of these, 58 are general category seats while 12 fall under reserved category. While each and every constituency is crucial to winning the election, there are some that become key constituencies, on which everybody keeps an eye on. The reason – party stalwarts, veteran leaders, chief ministerial candidates are contesting here.
The nature of constituencies has changed in the national capital, like in any other part of the country, post delimitation exercise. However, the number of Assembly seats continues to remain the same – 70. Of these, some of the key constituencies are listed as under:
New Delhi:
New Delhi is the heart of the national capital and it will also be the heart of the 2008 State Assembly Elections – because incumbent Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s fate will get sealed here. Dikshit faces strong opponent, Vijay Jolly of the BJP here. Born on March 31, 1938, Sheila Dikshit is the second woman Chief Minister of Delhi. For the past two terms, she has been representing Gole Market constituency. While Gole Market continues to be the part of New Delhi seat, areas like Sarojini Nagar have also been added to the constituency.
Vijay Jolly has promised that Dikshit will face the “battle of her life” in the upcoming elections. “I am conscious of the fact that I am contesting against the Chief Minister. I intend to make the contest interesting, fierce, and tough,” he said. “If Obama could defeat McCain, then in these Assembly elections, I will definitely defeat Sheila Dikshit,” he added, drawing a parallel with the US Presidential elections.
While Dikshit is expected to win, the battle could turn out to be interesting because she is fighting anti-incumbency and inflation. Talking about the constituency itself, the area is unlike any other in the city and so has its own set of problems. Bad roads, sanitation, water and power are not issues to fight an election on here. Instead, inflation and the Sixth Pay Commission could turn out to be the deciding factors.
Greater Kailash:
The second most important constituency in these elections is posh Greater Kailash from where BJP’s senior leader and chief ministerial candidate Vijay Kumar Malhotra is contesting. The veteran leader is currently a Member of Parliament from South Delhi. He is considered to be one of the most accessible politicians in the capital. Malhotra was chosen the party’s chief ministerial candidate over three other key state leaders, namely Dr Harshvardhan, Vijay Goel and Jagdish Mukhi, currently leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly. In a key electoral win, Malhotra had defeated current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in South Delhi in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls. Congress’ Jitender Kochhar is the main candidate against Malhotra.
Laxmi Nagar:
Laxmi Nagar is the constituency where Congress heavyweight Dr AK Walia will contest from. He is the sole minister (presently, Finance and Power Minister) in the Sheila Dikshit government, apart from the CM herself, who has lasted for 10 years. He has been sitting in the Delhi Assembly for the past three consecutive terms from Geeta Colony, which used to be his constituency prior to delimitation. However, he now faces unfamiliar voters. The newly-formed Laxmi Nagar constituency includes nearly 50 percent area of Geeta Colony and the rest of another scrapped seat, Mandawali. Dr Walia will take on BJP’s Murari Singh Pawar here.
Krishna Nagar:
BJP heavyweight Dr Harshvardhan is vying to win from the Krishna Nagar constituency, which now includes part of Vishwas Nagar and Geeta Colony seats. Pitted against him is Congress’ Dipika Khullar, who had fought the last Assembly polls as an independent candidate against the Congress. The party is hoping that with a portion of Dr A K Walia’s Geeta Colony constituency now becoming a part of Krishna Nagar, Khullar can stage an upset.
Rohtash Nagar:
Fighting from Rohtash Nagar is ex-Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ram Babu Sharma. The constituency has expanded after inclusion of several areas of Welcome and Nand Nagari. Pitted against him are Alok Kumar of BJP and BSP’s Lokesh Dikshit. Kumar has lost to Sharma twice earlier. For a leader as veteran as Sharma, getting a ticket this time had become difficult after Congress tentatively decided not to let those sitting MLAs, under whose constituencies all four MCD Councillors had lost in last year’s Municipal polls, contest the upcoming elections. But, in the end, Sharma did manage to get the ticket.
Chandni Chowk:
If one name is synonymous with Old Delhi, it is Chandni Chowk. And the constituency occupies a special place in Delhi Assembly Elections too. Congress has retained twice-winner Prahlad Singh Sawhney, hoping his magic would continue in the area. Pitted against him is BJP’s Parveen Khandelwal, the current All India Traders’ secretary general. There are more than one lakh voters in this constituency and considering the fact that trader areas of Azad Market and Nawab Ganj fall here, BJP’s choice seems to have been thoroughly worked-out. Khandelwal also played a key role in anti-sealing protests in the city. Estimates show the electorate in Chandni Chowk includes 21% Muslims, 30% OBCs, and Vaishyas and SCs 14% each.
Janak Puri:
Janak Puri constituency in West Delhi will see BJP’s Prof Jagdish Mukhi, the leader of Opposition in State Assembly, contest against Deepak Arora of Congress. Some in BJP believed few months back that Mukhi might be nominated as the party’s chief ministerial candidate. However, it was not to be and VK Malhotra won the party’s backing for the post. Mukhi has been minister in past BJP governments in the national capital.
Ballimaran:
Haroon Yusuf (Congress) vs Moti Lal Sodhi (BJP) – this is the contest that we are going to witness in the Ballimaran constituency of Delhi. Haroon Yusuf, currently Transport Minister in Sheila Dikshit government, is counted among the most recognisable faces of the party in the national capital. Yusuf was first made a minister in the Delhi government in 2001. He won his first Assembly seat from Ballimaran in 1993. In 1998, he won a re-election with a record margin. While Yusuf is widely expected to win, he must be hoping that election results, to be announced on December 08, don’t have a different story to tell.
Gandhi Nagar:
Gandhi Nagar is another East Delhi constituency and Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely is contesting from here. Lovely, who is the Minister of Education and Tourism in the current Sheila Dikshit government, has become popular because of the notable work that he has done in the education sector in the national capital. In fact, Delhi has been ranked second in elementary education in the Educational Development Index prepared by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration.
In the November 29 elections, Lovely who at 28 was the youngest MLA in the Delhi Assembly and at 33 years, became the youngest minister in the Sheila Dikshit cabinet, takes on BJP’s Kamal Jain here. However, he was originally scheduled to contest against Kalpana Jain, who has now been replaced due to opposition to her candidature by the local cadre.
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