Cong falls back on Bhupinder Hooda to score Delhi’s Jat votes

Delhi may be a big city, but it does not comprise merely big residents’ welfare associations and urban voters. Not too far from the posh areas of the Capital, resides its rural population.

Delhi may be a big city, but it does not comprise merely big residents’ welfare associations and urban voters. Not too far from the posh areas of the Capital, resides its rural population.

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To win over the voters of the Capital’s highly urbanised villages, Congress has fielded the chief minister of Haryana to campaign for the party.

On Wednesday, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda held chaupals (village meetings) at many rural enclaves in south Delhi.

During the chaupals, Hooda spoke to the people in Haryanvi. “My grandmother was also from your community and we go a long way back. I assure you that if you vote Congress to power, you’ll see a different Delhi in the coming years,” the chief minister urged the local residents at a chaupal at Safdarjung Enclave’s Humayunpur.

“After the demise of popular BJP Jat leader Sahib Singh Verma, the BJP has gradually lost its Jat vote bank. Even five years after his death, the Congress has not been able to completely win over the Jat community. If the party is able to get their votes in these MCD elections, it will reap long-term benefits,” said a local Congress leader, requesting anonymity.

Areas such as Najafgarh, Narela and Saidulajab in outer Delhi and Shahpur Jat, Humayunpur, Hauz Khaz village, Vasant Village, Kotla Mubarkurpur and Zamrudpur in south Delhi have sizeable Jat population.