Noida got it’s first-ever MLA on Tuesday. Mahesh Sharma of the BJP defeated BSP’s Om Dutt Sharma by a margin of 27,664 votes.
Sharma secured 77,226 votes, while Om Dutt could secure only 59,582 votes.
Till the last elections, Noida was part of the Dadri Assembly seat. This meant a large section of the rural population chose an MLA which represented Noida, too. But with the delimitation exercise, Noida is a separate seat now. And since it is an urban seat, the electioneering, for a change, focused on urban issues.
Sharma, who owns Kailash Hospital, has his task cut out.
“Better law and order situation, non-erratic power supply and supply of potable water are the need of the hour,” said Rajesh Kaushik, a resident.
“Sharma should keep all his promises,” said Gaurav Kapoor, resident of Sector 41.
“Sanitation is an important issue. Open drains and non-availability of garbage disposal centres are making the city dirty,” said Jagdev Singh, resident of Sector 28.
Pramod Kumar of Sector 29, said, “Sharma promised that he would solve the problem of hard water.”
{{/usCountry}}Pramod Kumar of Sector 29, said, “Sharma promised that he would solve the problem of hard water.”
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the winning candidate Mahesh Sharma, said, “I have been a resident of Noida for decades and feel proud to be its first MLA. People have high expectations from me. I will try to live up to them.”
“I will work towards bringing in public representation on the Noida Authority Board. This will help in speeding up development projects and bringing transparency,” he added.
“I will work towards ensuring that land plots in Noida are allotted on free-hold basis and not on lease,” said Sharma.
(with inputs from Astha Saxena,
Saurabh Trivedi and Kapil Datta)