NEW DELHI: With only five days left for the Rajinder Nagar by-poll, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hit the campaign trail in the constituency on Friday by holding a roadshow amid hundreds of residents joining in with flags, caps and brooms in hands.
Kejriwal appealed to the people to ensure the victory of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Durgesh Pathak if they want development works to continue in the assembly constituency. Attacking the BJP, he told people not to vote for the saffron party, claiming that they don’t get anything done.
“I request all to make AAP win this time with a bigger margin than last time. There is no use in voting for BJP, they can’t get anything done, they keep fighting with us for 24 hours,” said Kejriwal. He added, “I promise everyone that all the work related to the constituency will be done. If you want work to be done, vote for AAP. If you want confrontations, vote for the BJP,” he added.
The voting will take place on June 23 and the result will be declared on June 26. The three back-to-back road shows are scheduled for June 17, 18 and 19, where the chief minister will vouch for his party. Of the candidates in the fray, the AAP, BJP, and Congress have fielded one candidate each while, three others are from unrecognised parties. Eight other candidates are taking part individually.
While the BJP fielded Rajesh Bhatia, Prem Lata is the Congress candidate. With the AAP, BJP, and Congress candidates in the fray, the bypoll is expected to be a triangular fight. Meanwhile, the residents said that the former AAP MLA, Raghav Chadha visited the constituency twice, but did not do anything.
Sunita Bharti, wife of late Kishan Bharti- SC/ST welfare committee member of AAP complained that after the death of her husband, no AAP official or any leader came to visit her. “My husband was a Covid-19 warrior. He worked really hard for the welfare of the party. It was shocking that even Raghav Chadha did not visit us.”
Nirmal Devi, another resident said, “These roadshows are taken out only to seek votes before elections. The government claims to promise a lot of things but looks at the poor condition of the roads and non-functional street lights. There are two CCTV cameras installed in front of our house but none of them is working.”
Sanjeev, echoing the same opinion said, “The Chief Minister of Delhi visit shows how worried he is about losing the seat. This time too they came up with many promises and claims but once the election is over, they will forget all the promises.”
Kamla, in favour of AAP said, “I pray that the Kejriwal government wins at any cost. He has provided free water electricity, and food during the Covid-19 to the poor. We are really thankful for all the things they have done for us. I am sure that if AAP wins, we all will benefit from it.” Raghav Chadha said, “The residents of Rajender Nagar should be happy that now they will have an MLA and an MP from their area.”
Triangular fight among AAP, BJP and Congress
Of the candidates in the fray, the AAP, BJP, and Congress have fielded one candidate each while, three others are from unrecognised parties. Eight other candidates are taking part individually. While the BJP fielded Rajesh Bhatia, Prem Lata is the Congress candidate. With the AAP, BJP, and Congress candidates in the fray, the bypoll is expected to be a triangular fight