In the 70 member Delhi assembly, at least 12 seats are witnessing high profile contests. New Delhi in Lutyen’s Delhi, Krishna Nagar, Patparganj in East Delhi, Greater Kailash, Jangpura in South Delhi, Mundka, Patel Nagar in West Delhi, Sadar, Ballimaran, Matia Mahal in Old Delhi are some of the most important constituencies.
NEW DELHI
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal is seeking re-election from the elite Lutyen’s Delhi assembly seat for the second time in 13 months. Last time, there was a lot of curiosity because he took on the then chief minister of Delhi Sheila Dixit and created history by defeating her in his maiden election by a big margin. This time, Kejriwal is not facing any formidable contender with the BJP fielding its youth leader Nupur Sharma and the Congress fielding veteran leader and former minister Dr. Kiran Walia against him. Though Kejriwal has not campaigned much in the New Delhi seat, his volunteers are doing a door to door canvassing. Kejriwal is supremely confident of his win from this seat. According to local AAP volunteers, he is likely to win by a big margin once again. Nupur Sharma is also campaigning with the help of local leaders and workers. Dr. Kiran Walia has campaigned aggressively and claimed that the voters of New Delhi will reject both Kejriwal and Nupur Sharma.
KRISHNA NAGAR
The stronghold of Union minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan is now facing a tough fight between the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate Kiran Bedi and the AAP candidate S K Bagga. The Congress has fielded Bansi Lal. Since Krishna Nagar has been a BJP bastion since 1993, the BJP has fielded Kiran Bedi from there. Harsh Vardhan who won five elections from here reluctantly agreed to back Bedi. It is a known fact that not all BJP workers are happy with Bedi, who has been parachuted from south Delhi. Upsetting the BJP calculations, the AAP is giving a tough fight to Bedi in Krishna Nagar.
SADAR BAZAR
The chief ministerial candidate of the Congress Ajay Maken is taking on BJP’s Praveen Jain in this trading hub in old Delhi. The AAP has fielded its sitting MLA Som Dutt once again. Maken is banking on his ‘doer’ image. The BJP is hoping that the predominantly traders seat will back its candidate. AAP’s Som Dutt is playing Kejriwal card. There is a tough triangular fight in this prestigious seat.
PATPARGANJ
Patparganj in East Delhi is also witnessing a fierce battle. Kejriwal’s closest friend Manish Sisodia is contesting once again from this seat. This time, he is taking on former AAP MLA from neighboring Laxmi Nagar Vinod Kumar Binny. The Congress has once again fielded Anil Chaudhury. According to local party workers, Sisodia is ahead of Binny. Some local BJP workers are unhappy with Binny contesting from Patparganj. Nakul Bhardwaj, who lost on the BJP ticket in 2013, is reportedly upset and not campaigning actively.
GREATER KAILASH
The upmarket Greater Kailash in South Delhi is witnessing a fierce triangular battle between Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter of the President Pranab Mukherjee, sitting MLA of AAP Saurabh Bhardwaj and BJP’s former councilor Rakesh Kumar Gullaiya. Sharmistha, who is making her electoral debut, has been campaigning vigorously. However, former IITian Bhardwaj is hoping that he will easily win this time too. The BJP is banking on Modi’s charisma.
MALAVIYA NAGAR
Malaviya Nagar in south Delhi is also witnessing a very interesting battle. Somnath Bharti who hit national headlines by leading mid-night raids on alleged sex and drug rackets in January 2013, is hopeful of winning once again. The Congress has fielded its veteran leader Dr. Yoganand Shastri from Malviya Nagar while the BJP has fielded a new face Nandini Sharma.
PATEL NAGAR
BJP candidate and Dalit face Krishna Tirath, who was a minister at both Centre and Delhi seems to have established a clear edge over her rivals from the Patel Nagar Assembly seat. A reserved constituency, Patel Nagar includes upper middle-class areas like East and West Patel Nagar, Rajendra Place, Ranjeet Nagar, middle class areas like Baljit Nagar and Prem Nagar, and lower-middle class colonies like Faridpuri, Punjabi Basti and Shadipur. Tirath won the seat on a Congress ticket in 1993, 1998 and 2003 Assembly elections. After her, Rajesh Lilothia of the Congress won the seat until he was defeated by Veena Anand of the Aam Aadmi Party in December 2013. This time, Tirath’s rivals are Congress’ Lilothia, AAP’s Hazari Lal Chauhan and Veena Anand, who is fighting as an independent after AAP denied her ticket.
MUNDKA
Mundka in rural Delhi is also witnessing a fierce electoral battle. Former Mayor of North Delhi Municipal Corporation and younger brother of the late chief minister Sahib Singh Varma is once again contesting from Jat dominated Mundka. He is facing Reeta Shokeen of the Congress and Sukhbir Dalal of the AAP. Last time, Reeta Shokeen’s husband Rambir Shokeen won as an independent from the seat.
BALLIMARAN
Home to Mirza Ghalib, Ballimaran is one of the oldest parts of Delhi. Veteran Congress leader Haroon Yusuf has been winning from this Muslim dominated seat since 1993. He is seeking re-election on the Congress ticket. Yusuf, who was a Minister in the Congress-led Delhi Government, is facing Shyam Lal Morwal of the BJP and Imraan of the AAP. Both the parties have changed their candidates who lost in 2013 election. With the Aam Aadmi Party expected to make a dent into the Congress’s traditional Muslim vote bank and the BJP’s success in the Lok Sabha election, a lot has changed in the Ballimaran.
MATIA MAHAL
Matia Mahal in Old Delhi is famous for its frequent “party hopper” MLA Shoib Iqbal. He has won every election since 1993 from this seat on different symbols. This time, he is contesting on Congress ticket. The Congress is banking on his magic. But local leaders feel that the party not giving ticket to a local may result in vote shift towards AAP’s Asim Ahmed Khan. BJP is also fancying its chances. Its candidate Shakil Anjum Dehalvi had an impressive debut with AAP in 2013 since it hopes Muslim votes will split says a report.
JANGPURA
In this mostly upper middle class and lower class constituency, the BJP is fighting a tough battle. It has fielded M S Dhir, who won on the AAP ticket last time. Dhir is the Speaker of Delhi Assembly. He is taking on Congress veteran Tarvinder Singh Marwah and the AAP’s Praveen Kumar.
ROHINI
Rohini in North West Delhi has been a bastion of the BJP for twenty years. Last time, AAP’s Rajesh Garg won the seat by defeating BJP candidate. This time, former Delhi BJP president Vijender Gupta is contesting against the AAP candidate C L Gupta and Congress’ Sukhbir Sharma. It is the only seat which has a sizeable “middle class” population, predominantly the trading community.
JANAKPURI WEST
At a time when experts have already written off the Congress in the capital polls, the oldest party has fielded Suresh Kumar, an engineer, against his father-in-law and BJP leader Prof. Jagdish Mukhi who is the sitting MLA from the seat.Â