Twitter
Advertisement

Battle lines drawn in Bawana for by-polls

AAP focusses on farmers’ issues, BJP pins hope on PM Modi’s development plank while Congress relies on old hand

Latest News
article-main
Delhi Chief Minister interacts with people while campaigning for AAP candidate
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Battle lines have been drawn in Bawana, which goes to polls on August 23 for its reserved Assembly seat. The seat had fallen vacant after the then Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Ved Prakash resigned from the post and joined hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), just ahead of the civic body polls in April this year.

The by-election in one of the largest constituencies of Delhi is of prime significance for the three arch rivals — the BJP, the AAP, and the Congress. While former AAP member Prakash is in the fray from BJP’s side now, Congress has pinned its hope on three-time Bawana MLA Surendra Kumar, who is also the party district president. AAP, at the same time, has fielded local Ramchandra for the pitched battle.

For AAP, the Bawana by-election is an opportunity to resurrect itself after two consecutive defeats, in the Punjab Assembly polls and the civic elections in Delhi, as well the humiliating defeat in Rajouri by-election.

Also, most contestants believe that they have tapped the pulse of the constituency — the unauthorised colonies — to gather maximum votes. Bawana has a cluster of 26 villages, lying cheek by jowl with the unauthorised colonies. The constituency’s problems, however, are as varied as its vote bank, making strategising a difficult task.

AAP will be taking ahead Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s agenda of water, power, health, and education. The party has been promising free water, mohalla clinics, improved schools, and round-the-clock electricity to residents. Another high point of its campaign this year is smart villages.

AAP leader Adil said: “Farmers are a big priority for us. Our government has provided them water for irrigation. The next important step is our project of smart villages, for which we are allocating Rs 2 crore to each village. The area also lacks road connectivity, so we have built roads as well, starting with the JJ cluster.”

The BJP, meanwhile, has fielded heavyweights such as state party president Manoj Tiwari, Union minister Birender Singh, and MPs Parvesh Sharma and Udit Raj, to woo voters. The party has stated that the promises made by AAP were just an eyewash and would never materialise.

The villages have been facing shortage of water for irrigation because of no or limited pipelines.

DEVELOPMENT PLANK

  • The villages have been facing shortage of water for irrigation because of no or limited pipelines. For district BJP president Neel Daman Khatry, however, the main agenda would be Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development plank.

Know your candidate

Ved Prakash, BJP
In 2015, Prakash won the election from Bawana on an AAP ticket, after being denied a ticket by the BJP. He did a “ghar vaapsi”, however, and went back to his old party ahead of the Delhi civic body polls in April this year. Prakash is not offering anything new in Bawana. The agenda remains an amalgamation of good governance, Modi’s development programmes, and a little bit of nationalism — the same issues on which the party had romped home in the MCD elections.

Ram Chandra, AAP
In 2015, Prakash won the election from Bawana on an AAP ticket, after being denied a ticket by the BJP. He did a “ghar vaapsi”, however, and went back to his old party ahead of the Delhi civic body polls in April this year. Prakash is not offering anything new in Bawana. The agenda remains an amalgamation of good governance, Modi’s development programmes, and a little bit of nationalism — the same issues on which the party had romped home in the MCD elections.

Surender Kumar, Congress
Kumar is a well-known face in the constituency, having been a legislator for 15 consecutive years — 1998-2013. He is still beseeching voters with the age-old agenda of roti, kapda, aur makan, for the common man. Stating that he has served people “selflessly” for the three terms that he was in power, Kumar is also hoping to cash in on Ved Prakash’s turncoat gesture, which according to the party, has left residents betrayed and surprised.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement