After withdrawing tickets of Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, the two accused in 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the Congress finds itself in a very ridiculous situation in Delhi. The party thought that it would appease the Sikhs, rather they got angry and termed it a ?stage managed? to allow the ?guilty? take a high moral ground. The Sikh community feels the chapter of anti-Sikh riots did not close with replacing the riot accused by Congress rather it exposed the game plan of the party which not only protected the accused for 25 years but also misused the CBI for political gains.
Besides the anti-Sikh riots, in post-delimitation scenario too the Congress stands weakened in most of the Lok Sabha seats of Delhi. Union Minister Kapil Sibal has almost lost ground in Chandni Chowk. In New Delhi, Union Minister Ajay Maken has been engaged in a pitch battle with BJP veteran Shri Vijay Goel. In the reserved North-West Delhi too, there is a close battle on the cards. In West Delhi the BJP is in a very strong position. Even during the recent Assembly polls the BJP had got more votes than the Congress at this seat. In North-East, Shri BL Sharma ?Prem? is all set to defeat another DPCC president. A total of 160 candidates are in the fray for the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi where elections will be held on May 7.
West Delhi
BJP heavyweight and former Leader of Opposition Prof. Jagdish Mukhi is all set to give a severe jolt to Congress nominee Mahabal Mishra in West Delhi. This seat was carved out of Outer Delhi and South Delhi constituencies. The BJP got 39.28 per cent votes while the Congress had got 38 per cent votes in Assembly polls. ?I have been living in West Delhi for the last 35 years and served the people of this area as MLA for 30 years. People know me and my functioning and I know the area and its problems better,? says Prof. Mukhi pointing out that there are areas in the constituency, which do not seem like the national capital, thanks to the absence of development.
North-East Delhi
Veteran BJP leader BL Sharma ?Prem?, who served the constituency twice, is comfortable in North-East Delhi. After withdrawing the ticket of Jagdish Tytler, the Congress has fielded DPCC president JP Agrawal from here. Shri Prem has already defeated two DPCC presidents?HKL Bhagat in 1991 and Deepchand Bandhu in 1996. ?It is the turn of another DPCC president to face similar defeat,? says Shri Sharma. Previously, he played a key role in the constitution of a separate development board for trans Yamuna area and now he promised to get a similar development board constituted for the new constituency. The joining of BJP by former Congress Councillor Shri Jagdish Prasad along with his supporters made the chances of Shri Sharma better.
East Delhi
BJP fielded cricketer turned politician Shri Chetan Chauhan from East Delhi against the Congress nominee Sandip Dikshit who is the son of Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. But it is not going to help him much this time as the people understood that just being the son of the Chief Minister would not solve their problems. While Shri Dikshit is performing road shows Shri Chetan Chauhan along with the party workers is conducing door-to-door canvassing. ?I will win the seat with a comfortable margin,? claims Shri Chauhan.
Chandni Chowk
MCD Standing Committee chairman Shri Vijendra Gupta is taking on Union Minister Kapil Sibbal in Chandni Chowk. The BSP had got 8.3 per cent votes in Assembly polls from this seat. But most of the BSP leaders under the leadership of Shri Abhay Yadav joined the BJP recently, which increased the BJP vote percentage to 48 per cent. The Congress has now just 40 per cent votes here. ?My tenure in MCD has helped me understand the city and its issues very well. I have been in the forefront for people'srights be it protesting against the arbitrary fee hike in schools or protesting against sealing,? said Shri Gupta. The geography of this historic constituency changed after delimitation. Now 9.98 per cent of the total 14,10,480 voters are from Adarsh Nagar Assembly seat, 10.7 per cent from Shalimar Bagh, 10.04 per cent from Shakur Basti, 10.73 per cent from Sadar Bazar, 7.83 from Chandni Chowk, 8.29 per cent from Matia Mahal and 10.57 per cent are from Model Town Assembly seat.
New Delhi
Former Union Minister Shri Vijay Goel is BJP candidate against Union Minister Ajay Maken from New Delhi. Shri Goel'schances of wining the seat became fairer when two former Municipal Councillors of Congress, Shri Kunwar Sen and Shri Ishwar Singh, joined the BJP. ?The present trend is in favour of the BJP and that is why Congress leaders are now joining the BJP,? said Shri Goel. Thirty one per cent of the total voters in this seat are from old Karol Bagh Lok Sabha seat, 34. 36 per cent from old South Delhi seat, 8.48 per cent from old Sadar Bazar seat, 2.19 from old Chandni Chowk and 33.54 per cent from old New Delhi seat.
South Delhi
Ninety one per cent of the voters in this seat are from old Outer Delhi constituency and nine per cent are from old South Delhi constituency. So, from being an urban seat, South Delhi has become a completely rural constituency. The BJP has fielded its MLA Shri Ramesh Bidhuri from the seat. Withdrawing the ticket of Sajjan Kumar the Congress fielded his brother Ramesh Kumar from this seat. ?The Congress MP Sajjan Kumar failed to resolve even the basic problems of the people while being the MP during the last five years. People will not vote for the Congress this time at all,? said Shri Ramesh Bidhuri.
North-West Delhi
It is the only reserved constituency of Delhi. It was carved out of the Outer Delhi and East Delhi constituencies. In all, 83 per cent of its voters are from the old Outer Delhi seat and 16.57 per cent are from old East Delhi seat. The Congress fielded its MP Smt. Krishna Teerath while the BJP fielded former Mayor of Delhi Smt Meera Kanwaria from the seat.
