E-Paper
Lok Sabha elections 2019: Cricketer’s entry adds spice to contest
The excitement was visible at the District Magistrate’s office in East Delhi on Tuesday where Gambhir, 37, and Lovely, 50, had gone to file their nominations.
Two debutants —BJP’s Gautam Gambhir and AAP’s Atishi — will take on three-time MLA and former education minister Arvinder Singh Lovely of the Congress in East Delhi.
Ever since the BJP announced former cricketer Gambhir as its candidate, there is visible excitement among people, says Monu Chadha, a resident of Jungpura. “He is a celebrity and played a crucial role in our (2011) cricket world cup victory. All the three main political parties have fielded strong candidates,” said Chadha, who is the president of the resident welfare association.
The excitement was visible at the District Magistrate’s office in East Delhi on Tuesday where Gambhir,37, and Lovely, 50, had gone to file their nominations. Atishi had filed her nomination the previous day.
Kartik Kumar, a class 9 student and a resident of Laxmi Nagar, had come to get a glimpse of Gambhir.
“It will be good if he became our MP,” said Kumar. But when asked what does he expects Gambhir to do if he wins, Kumar didn’t have a clear answer and said he could open a cricket training centre or facility for young cricket enthusiasts.
But many residents see him as an “outsider” as he doesn’t live in the area and “not aware of the real problems faced by residents of East Delhi”. Better sanitation, education facility, security are some of the issues raised by AAP’s Atishi, who has been working in the constituency for nearly a year now.
The 37-year-old educationist, who is credited to have worked on school education reforms initiated by the Delhi government, has been talking to people about these issues while stressing on the need for full statehood for Delhi—AAP’s key political issue in these polls.
Atishi who is making her electoral debut said, “Education, women security and essential services like hospitals are the key issues. But these issues can’t be fully resolved until Delhi is declared a full state. There is a need for colleges in the area, but the Delhi government can’t open it as Delhi is not a full state.”
A Mayur Vihar Phase-II resident Rajesh Sehgal said, “the new MP should be aware of the local issues, preferably someone who has lived here.”
Lovely, who has been an education minister in Sheila Dikshit government, better education facility is one of the many issues. “They are here for political tourism and are completely unaware of the local problems. I have lived here all my life. While education is an issue, there are issues like sealing, lack of transport infrastructure etc which need immediate attention,” he said.
Filing his nomination, Gambhir said, “The aim is to take Modiji’s dream of the country forward. Just as the PM worked in the last five years, I’ll try do to the same.”
