How Dr Harsh Vardhan plans to win over Chandni Chowk

The walled city of Chandni Chowk is a melting pot of diverse cultures. For Dr Harsh Vardhan Singh, who was born here, convincing voters to vote for the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is just like home-coming.

The BJP’s candidate for Chandni Chowk shares with Iamin.in about how he plans to win over the walled city constituency.

With a big chunk of young voters this general elections, Dr Vardhan feels they are more receptive to the idea of growth and development without appeasement. “My interactions with the young voters in the constituency show that their views are different from their fathers. This is because it is their fathers and grand fathers who have been fooled by the Congress,” he said.

However, development in the constituency has been on the back burner for the past decade. Broken pavements, potholes, indiscriminate dumping of debris and garbage, unauthorised colonies, water and sanitation issues in slum clusters are abound in the constituency.

According to him, BJP has an ambitious development plan in store for the walled city. “We need to redefine the Master Plan. The challenge will be to preserve its heritage by applying a modern mind,” he said.

But, much of what he can do for the people of Chandni Chowk constituency depends on how voters will vote. The voters, particularly from Matia Mahal, pose a challenge. “Going by the past record of the Delhi Assembly Elections, Matia Mahal has been the worst performing constituency for us. But, it is also the constituency of my birthplace. We will work hard and try to convince voters,” he said.

History shows that the Muslim community’s vote bank in Chandni Chowk constituency from areas such as Ballimaran, Jama Masjid, Matia Mahal have proved crucial as they make up for 15 per cent of the constituency’s population.

Dr Vardhan is optimistic about winning them over. “I have a growing feeling that if the Muslims vote for BJP, they will also be a part of the growing development, which will begin after that,” he says with surety.

Whether his clean image will make him victorious this General Election will depend which way the voters swing.