Rajinder Nagar bypoll: 20 candidates file nominations

AAP's Durgesh Pathak, BJP's Rajesh Bhatia, and Congress' Prem Lata, are the three main contenders for the seat, which became vacant after then MLA, AAP's Raghav Chadha, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

New Delhi: A total of 20 candidates have filed their nominations for the by-election to the Rajinder Nagar assembly constituency where polling will be held on June 23. Most of the nominations, including those by three main contenders from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, were filed on Monday -- the last day for filing nominations.

AAP has fielded its MCD in-charge, Durgesh Pathak, for the June 23 byelection. (File Photo)

The seat fell vacant after sitting MLA Raghav Chadha of the AAP was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.

The AAP has fielded Durgesh Pathak, party’s incharge for MCD affairs; the BJP has nominated former councillor Rajesh Bhatia and the Congress has also fielded Prem Lata, a former councillor. Several independent candidates are also trying their luck besides some from smaller parties such as 64-year-old Renu Verma who is from Bharat Lok Sewak Party.

According to the revised electoral rolls, the constituency has over 160,000 voters. The result will be declared on June 26.

Monday was a busy day for the contenders with the AAP candidate organising a roadshow through major parts of the constituency, starting from Naraina Vihar gurdwara up to the returning officer’s office near Pusa Institute where he filed the nomination papers. At various places during the roadshow the AAP candidate was felicitated by local residents.

The former legislator from the seat, and now Rajya Sabha MP, Raghav Chadha, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and several AAP MLAs accompanied Pathak on the roadshow.

Pathak said that he was fully prepared to serve the people of the Rajinder Nagar. “I am overjoyed to have filed my nomination for the Rajinder Nagar by-election. During the roadshow, the people of Rajinder Nagar showed their overwhelming support for me. Everyone was looking at us with a great deal of optimism in their eyes because they believe in the AAP. I will treating their problems as those of my own, and I will not them suffer,” Pathak said.

BJP candidate Rajesh Bhatia also organised a grand roadshow with Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi and Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta, several local party leaders and supporters. Bhatia was also felicitated at several points by local residents and party supporters. Gupta said that the crowd during the roadshow was a clear indicator of BJP’s resounding victory.

“It is a battle of local versus outsider. I am a local, and the AAP candidate is an outsider. People are angry that the person (Raghav Chadha) they elected in 2020 left them and have decided to vote for the BJP candidate who is a local and not an outsider. Even after ruling for a long time, the AAP government could not solve the water crisis in the area. People want change and are looking forward to the BJP,” said Bhatia.

The AAP dismissed the outsider remark, and said that the BJP has nothing to talk about that is why it was raking a non-issue.

Congress’s Prem Lata was accompanied by party leaders and supporters on the way to the office of the returning officer. Lata, a former councillor like Bhatia, said the support from the local residents was “very encouraging”.

Delhi Congress chief Chaudhary Anil Kumar called Lata a grassroots worker and said that she was well aware of the problems being faced by the people in the constituency.

Lata claimed both the BJP and the AAP have neglected the area for the past eight years, and she has been working among the people to solve their problems. Lata is a resident of Dasghara, a village in the constituency.

The nomination papers will be scrutinised on June 7, and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is June 9.