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Lok Sabha elections 2019- ‘North East Delhi will vote for change this time, elect one of their own’: AAP’s Dilip Pandey
Pandey said he was so impressed by Anna, who sat on a hunger strike in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar demanding Jan Lokpal Bill, that he also started fasting while working in Hong Kong, to show solidarity.
Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) candidate from the North East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, Dilip Pandey, had a different life plan. Like other computer engineers, he was happily working in a multinational firm in Hong Kong until 2011, when he learnt about Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption movement, which according to him, changed the trajectory of his life.
Pandey said he was so impressed by Anna, who sat on a hunger strike in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar demanding Jan Lokpal Bill, that he also started fasting while working in Hong Kong, to show solidarity.
Pandey quit his job in January 2012 and returned to India to join the movement. He later joined the AAP, formed by the present Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in November 2012. He was appointed the party’s Delhi convener in 2014. He stepped down from the post after the party lost the civic body elections in 2017. He is now embarking on a new journey — contesting the Lok Sabha elections from the North East Delhi constituency.
I am a resident of Yamuna Vihar and I am familiar with the challenges people face here. There is a pattern in the election here. Northeast Delhi residents have always trusted high profile people, such as a Chandni Chowk MP, son of a former chief minister and a Bhojpuri celebrity, in the hope of change and development. All of them have exploited the locals for votes and did not give them anything in return. But this time, I am sure they will trust and elect “unka apna aadmi”.
People are tired of their fake promises and false claims. Both of them are saying that they have no competition with Dilip Pandey. They are just trying to avoid a discussion about me during their public meetings. It clearly shows they are scared of the AAP. They know that they are losing political ground, this time.
Sheila Dikshit (81) is of my grandmother’s age. I wish her a long and healthy life. I respect her, but she is the one who did not let the AAP and the Congress alliance happen in Delhi. People are really angry with her here. Even the traditional Congress voters in Seelampur and Mustafabad have told me that they will not waste their votes this time. People have understood that the Congress is doing nothing but dividing the votes in Delhi.
If you rate the performance of MPs in Delhi, he will be in the last. He is presenting AAP’s work in North East Delhi, such as the Signature Bridge and the Metro line, as his own in his rallies because he has nothing to show. He is also highlighting the Modi government’s achievements in his campaigns to avoid (highlighting) his own failures.
My first focus will be on decongesting the bottlenecks of northeast Delhi’s neighbourhoods. Also, I will start the process of building a new government hospital, a new college and a skill development centre in the constituency.
