Unfazed by the criticism from her opponents, the senior BJP leader, who is also a Supreme Court lawyer, says it was her victory in 2014 that has made the New Delhi constituency a safe bet for the BJP, going into the sixth phase of polling on May 12. Excerpts from an interview;
The New Delhi parliamentary constituency is dominated by two influential groups of electorates — traders and central government employees. Both of them are apparently not happy with the present dispensation at the Centre?
That’s what the media thinks. Under the seventh pay commission, dearness allowance was increased to 52%, in terms of pension, and they are still not happy with it? This is not correct. And, to prevent sealing, we — the central government and the urban development ministry — brought in changes to the Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) and put all those amendments on the affidavit before it was placed before the Supreme Court, where the matter is pending.
But my point is, and I have been saying this repeatedly, why was the sealing not carried out during 2008-2018? Weren’t illegal activities happening during that period in Delhi? What was the Monitoring Committee doing? Even now, residential areas are being used for commercial purposes. No sealing has happened. Why are small traders being targeted? Small shoppers selling Salwar-Kameez, pulses, and other items are facing a sealing threat. DDA flats are being sealed. No one, including the media, paid attention to this. A sealing drive was launched just before the elections.
Could the BJP government bring an ordinance to stop sealing?
Ordinance can’t help in this matter because that is for illegal colonies (unauthorised colonies) and could only be in force for a limited period. It gets an extension, as the Delhi government is not striving to settle the issue for good. Work in those areas is to be done by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), which is under the Delhi government. Commercial roads are to be notified by them, which is not being done.
You are saying that the central government has done its bit. So, who is responsible for the sealing?
Mess was created by the MPD in which changes were to be introduced. Floor Area Ratio was not increased. There are certain high court decisions based on which the MPD had to be amended. However, that wasn’t done by the previous Congress government. Post that (amendments), roads were to be notified by the Delhi government.
Whatever was possible to bring changes to the MPD, the Centre (BJP led government) did through the DDA. It amended the MPD and increased FAR.
They (Congress and Aam Aadmi Party) has destroyed Delhi. Had they done proper planning and implementation, these issues would have not arisen.
Initially, there were reports that you might be dropped from New Delhi seat. Seems that your petition against Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his remark, ‘Chowkidar Chor hai’-worked in your favour
These are misleading reports. I could do it because my party leadership had confidence in me. These were guesses made by people, who would have benefitted had there been some other candidates. Go through my report card, it is better than the best MPs in the country. I am saying this with a lot of pride.
Even your party leaders were of the opinion that you might not get renominated from New Delhi Lok Sabha seat?
Because of all the work that I did for New Delhi over the last five years, it is now possible for us to post a comfortable win in a seat we lost twice. Before I was elected, we could win only two Assembly segments here — Delhi Cantonment and Moti Nagar.
In 2014, the BJP got 52 % votes in the remaining six seats and the vote share was 38-40%. In Delhi assembly elections in 2015, our nominees lost all 10 Assembly segments of New Delhi constituency.
But in the municipal elections, the BJP registered a victory in 22 wards, out of 25. Probably, this is the reason why everyone thinks that this is a comfortable seat for us.
How is your upcoming contest different from the 2014 elections?
I am better trained and equipped now.
Is this a triangular contest?
There is no contest in New Delhi. My opponents are raising non-issues. They have nothing better to speak about. People of my constituency know how much work has been done in their areas.
What challenges are you facing?
I am not facing any challenge by God’s grace.
Main projects undertaken by you in New Delhi?
I have worked a lot to improve the water supply in my constituency. But the success rate is still not up to the mark and more needs to be done. I got Rs 900 crore sanctioned from the Centre for augmentation of water supply for the city. Where and how this fund is to be spent, is to be decided by the Delhi government. That has not been done yet.
Even, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) area has piped water supply issues. Previous MPs and MLAs were not aware of this problem because no MP would visit constituency. It was the first time that an MP of the area worked as a councillor.
A water reservoir and pumping station was set up in Gole Market colony, which was getting groundwater supply. At AIIMS also, staff quarters were deprived of piped water supply. That issue was also addressed. You must have seen a lot of greenery and cleanliness this season in NDMC area.
This is the result of the training and workshop attended by our gardener and sanitation staff in European countries like Spain and Holland. This training programme was my initiative. Groups were sent aboard for this purpose.
I have also got Rs 600 crore sanctioned from the Centre for improvement in power infrastructure, apart from regular budgetary allocations for the area.
Meenakshi Lekhi
BJP Candidate, New Delhi