NEW DELHI: The outgoing South Delhi MP Ramesh Bhiduri failed to perform his duties as there is no sign of any development taken place in last 10 years, a resident of Khanpur village says
“Ramesh Bhiduri hasn’t done an ounce of work in the last 10 years. No wonder the BJP has denied him the ticket this time around,” says Sanjeev Singh, a native resident of Khanpur village in South Delhi and a member of the dominant Gujjar community.
Originally a small village outside Delhi, Khanpur is now a densely populated locality home to thousands of students staying in paying guest accommodations. The original villagers, mostly belonging to the Gujjar community mostly earn an income by collecting rent. Despite their newfound wealth, the village is still lacking in several basic amenities with garbage lying openly on the streets along with open drains and manholes.
Although an old Congress supporter, Sanjeev says that he will vote for the BJP this time. “I believe Rahul Gandhi deserves a chance to run the country. But I will still vote for the BJP because they have given the ticket to Ramvir Singh Bidhuri. He is a distant relative of mine and has made promises to us. He has a reputation for getting things done.”
Kinship plays a major role in voting here with many residents saying they will vote for AAP’s Sahiram Pehalwan, another Gujjar with family ties in Khanpur.
In the nearby Harijan Basti, residents express a similar yet differing view. Established several decades ago as a dwelling for Dalit migrants to the city, the locality is severely congested, with narrow lanes that can barely fit a person through it. Most people in the locality work as labourers to make ends meet. 40-year-old Ajit Kumar was born and brought up in the locality after his parents migrated to the area from Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh. Painting a grim reality of their situation he says, “No work ever gets done here. The drains are never cleaned and are always clogged up. Ever since I was a child, we have had to wade through waist-deep water during the monsoon. Despite multiple promises over the decades, the situation is still the same.”
Despite the fact that most residents in the dwelling couldn’t name the AAP candidate for the upcoming polls, they said they would continue to vote for the party. “Even though most things haven’t changed, at least the nearby government school has improved massively in the last few years. The Mohalla clinic has also been very helpful and is always stocked up with medicines,” one resident said.
The constituency had originally been a stronghold for the Congress Party, which held the seat from 1993 to 2013. The AAP has held the seat since, with Ajay Dutt winning 68.38 per cent and 62.25 per cent of the vote in 2015 and 2020 respectively.