The Congress, which is fighting the elections with development as its plank, is facing criticism on various fronts including price rise, terrorism, unemployment.
When general elections were announced in March, the Congress in Delhi, riding high on its third consecutive victory in the assembly polls, looked set for a cakewalk, hoping to better its tally of the 2004 Lok Sabha polls when it won six of the seven seats here. But the national capital is now in a volatile electoral battle, with the BJP upping the ante in key constituencies.
The Congress, which is fighting the elections with development as its plank, is facing criticism on various fronts including price rise, terrorism, unemployment, hike in school fees and shortage of water and power.
Also, the Congress has to rein in potential damage that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) could cause in at least three constituencies, South, Northeast and East Delhi, which have an overwhelming rural population. Though the BSP won just two seats in the assembly elections, it garnered over 15% of the votes in each of these constituencies and 24.5% votes in South Delhi.
The Congress also has to mollify Sikh and Punjabi voters who might go with the BJP.
But Congress leaders refuse to face the truth. They say the mood of Delhi voters is still pro-Congress. Apparently, the assumption is based on the party’s recent assembly election victory, coupled with chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s goodwill.
“The mood of voters is in favour of the Congress. We had a historic win in the assembly elections under Sheila Dikshit and Delhiites know the Congress stands for development. A Congress government at the Centre will only add to this development wave,” said Sandeep Dikshit, the party’s candidate from East Delhi constituency.
But the Congress’ wobbly beginning in the elections has dented the enthusiasm of party workers. First, the ghost of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and the infamous shoe-hurling episode forced the party to withdraw sitting parliamentarians Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar from the fray. Then the weeklong delay in deciding replacements for the Congress veterans from the two seats — Northeast and South Delhi — resulted in the party losing out on crucial campaigning time.
The formidable line-up of its six sitting parliamentarians now stands broken and has made the party vulnerable in three seats — Chandni Chowk, West Delhi and South Delhi. The party then fielded its Delhi unit chief JP Agarwal and Sajjan’s brother Ramesh Kumar from the Northeast and South Delhi seats respectively.
Party insiders say that by fielding Ramesh, the Congress has ensured that Sajjan and his supporters don’t spoil the party’s campaign. But Ramesh’s candidature hasn’t gone down well with most leaders. The party has to now contain damage by disgruntled partymen sabotaging the Congress’s prospects.
The BJP, which was unsure of its prospects, is now upbeat. “The development the Congress is talking about is a farce. They have burdened the aam aadmi with unprecedented price rise. Parents of schoolchildren are suffering a collective burden of Rs5,000 crore due to the school fee hike effected by the Congress. There is resentment against the Congress and we are on way to victory,” said Vijender Gupta, the BJP candidate from Chandni Chowk.
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