By-polls: AAP plans road shows, BJP takes battery of leaders to Rajinder Nagar

The Rajinder Nagar seat has been with the AAP for the past two consecutive terms. In 2020 Delhi assembly elections, Chadha won the seat by a large margin of 20,058 votes against his rival RP Singh of the BJP. The Congress had fielded student leader Rocky Tuseed from the seat.

With the campaigning for the Rajinder Nagar by-election entering its final week, chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal will hold three road shows beginning this Friday to seek votes for party candidate Durgesh Pathak. The voting will take place on June 23 and the result will be declared on June 26.

Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal. (file pic)

The three back-to-back road shows are scheduled for June 17, 18 and 19, during which Kejriwal, AAP’s most successful crowd puller, will cover most of the key areas of the constituency, address residents, and urge them to vote for AAP. This will be Kejriwal’s first appearance in the campaigning for the by-election, which was necessitated by the resignation of sitting AAP MLA Raghav Chadha, who got elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab, where his party had stormed to power in April.

BJP has fielded former councillor Rajesh Bhatia while Congress has fielded former councillor Prem Lata for the urban assembly seat, located in the heart of Delhi near Connaught Place. The constituency is bordered by the Central Ridge forests on the east and south, the Agriculture Research Institute on the west, and Karol Bagh on the north.

Electioneering for the by-elections is at its peak as only a week is left for polling. AAP and BJP have fielded their key leaders for mobilising support. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, and minister Gopal Rai are holding back-to-back meetings with residents and talking about the work done by the AAP government in Delhi and, in particular, for Rajinder Nagar.

BJP has deployed its national general secretary Dushyant Kumar Gautam, Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi, MPs Manoj Tiwari and Gautam Gambhir, Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta, and leader of opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, among others, on campaigning.

The leaders have questioned the AAP government’s work so far, and raised issues such as the current water crisis, which affects a large number of constituents, and asked people to vote for the BJP candidate.

The Congress candidate, who is one of the three main contenders for the seat, has also intensified her electioneering and is trying to canvas votes on the issue of the water crisis.

The state election commission is giving final touches to the preparations for the by-election scheduled for June 23. A total of 164,698 electors are expected to cast their votes to elect the new legislator from among the 14 candidates in the fray.

As many as 899 voters are in the 18-19 age groups and likely will be exercising their franchise for the first time. The polling will be held at 190 polling stations across 21 locations in the assembly segment. Since polling is on a weekday, the poll panel is trying hard to ensure that the voter turnout is not low.

According to Rajinder Nagar residents, their main issues range from the ongoing water crisis, lack of adequate parking, bad shape of internal roads and a lack of sanitation. The constituency has three villages -- Dasgarha (which is dominated by Jats), Todapur (a Yadav majority village) and Naraina (mixed demography) -- and nearly 12 slum clusters such as Gas Godam Jhuggi, Rajiv Gandhi Camp, and Indira Camp.

The Rajinder Nagar seat has been with the AAP for the past two consecutive terms. In 2020 Delhi assembly elections, Chadha won the seat by a large margin of 20,058 votes against his rival RP Singh of the BJP. The Congress had fielded student leader Rocky Tuseed from the seat. In 2013 AAP candidate Vijender Garg won the seat after defeating by around 20,000 votes his nearest rival and BJP candidate RP Singh. In 2013, BJP’s RP Singh had won the seat.