NEW DELHI: As the Express trailed the election campaign of Ramesh Kumar, the Congress candidate for South Delhi constituency and the younger brother of Sajjan Kumar, hunted down by the ghosts of 1984 anti-Sikh riots, on Saturday, it was Sajjan Kumar every where except for the nomination filed at the Election Commission.
The campaign began at 9 am on a warm morning at Bagrola village adjacent to the Indira Gandhi International Airport. A modest crowd of around 100 waited for the candidate as they listened to the local Congress leader who had already begun the proceedings.
It was all praise for Sajjan Kumar, but never did the name of candidate Ramesh Kumar figure in his speech. The candidate’s convoy arrived at the village after a few minutes led by Sajjan Kumar flanked by his candidate brother Ramesh Kumar and the local MLA and accompanied by fellow supporters.
As we eagerly hung around, the request to speak went to the candidate’s brother who began his speech with praises for the UPA government. As it progressed, the fact that Ramesh Kumar was under his brother’s shadow surfaced. “There is no difference between Sajjan Kumar and Ramesh Kumar.
I know that the votes given to Ramesh Kumar will go to Sajjan Kumar.
We both, the brothers will sit together and do the job,” said Sajjan.
After the microphone was handed over to Ramesh, it was almost the repeat of his brother’s words. Highlighting only the right notes in his short speech which ended with a vow to serve the people, he said that he would love to be at the feet of his elder brother.
“I will sit at the feet of my elder brother Sajjan Kumar and work for the people by carrying forward the development projects initiated by him,” he said.
The convoy then left for Shabad Mohammadpur, a village nearby. Here, Sajjan Kumar took the opportunity to slam the BJP and the Akalis. “Why are you BJP fellows bothered about me getting tickets to contest? Along with the Akalis, they came out to the streets to stop me from contesting. They celebrated when my name was cut, but grieved my brother’s name replaced mine,” he told a cheering crowd including a few women and children.
Talking to the Express, Sajjan clarified that it was the developmental activities that they wanted to project. “In this part of the capital where my brother Ramesh Kumar is contesting people of all the communities are supporting us. We are reaping the benefit of the good work the government has done for the people,” he said.
When asked about the allegations that his brother was just a shadow candidate, he answered that his brother had good political experience, the reason that won him the candidature.
“He has been an MLA for the last five years. He is an active member of the Congress. That’s the reason why the party has asked him to contest and not because he is my brother,” he said.
And how does his brother and the ‘real’ candidate react to the same question? “All the candidates have only one duty - make sure that the party wins. The people are with us and so is God,” he said before heading to the next village.