NEW DELHI: Last month, the locality of Sangam Vihar became the subject of a protracted sparring contest between Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. After paying a visit to the area, Saxena deplored the lack of basic amenities in the locality.
Taking a swipe at the AAP government’s nine years in office, Saxena posted several pictures on X and wrote, “20 lakh people are forced to live a hellish life deprived of basic amenities. There are no roads, no sewers, and no garbage disposal. Electrical wires hanging all over are dangerous, and a rickshaw overturned in front of me on a broken road, injuring a woman,” he posted. He further added, “The country cannot imagine that overflowing drains, heaps of garbage, and streets filled with stinking sewer water still exist in the national capital.”
Buildings here are densely arranged, typically multi-story, housing three to four families each. Few own their homes, with most renting in unauthorised, unsafe structures. Basic amenities like electricity and water are often lacking, and hygiene and privacy are minimal. Men commonly work in daily wage jobs, factories, construction, or as rickshaw pullers or rag pickers, while some run small shops. Women are typically employed as domestic workers or roadside vendors.
The locality, which forms a part of the Sangam Vihar assembly constituency, has consistently voted for the Aam Aadmi Party in the last three assembly elections held in 2013, 2015, and 2020. AAP’s Dinesh Mohaniya won the seat with nearly 65% of the vote share and has remained as the MLA for the past 11 years. However, the constituency’s voting pattern in the Lok Sabha election, where it is a part of the South Delhi parliamentary constituency, tells a different story altogether. Despite nearly half of Sangam Vihar’s residents voting for the AAP in 2014, the BJP managed to win the seat as a whole. However, by 2019, this trend had reversed, with over half the voters preferring the BJP.The INDIA-alliance will hope to gain significant inroads in the area in the upcoming election, especially since a significant minority of the voters here (22.7%) belong to the Muslim community.
The BJP has made a surprising choice by not nominating its two-time MP from South Delhi, Ramesh Bidhuri, and instead giving the poll ticket to Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly and MLA from the Badarpur assembly constituency. The BJP leaders suggest that Bidhuri lost his ticket possibly due to a recent controversy involving his abusive and derogatory behaviour towards ex-BSP MP Danish Ali in Parliament. Meanwhile, the AAP has nominated Tughlaqabad MLA Sahi Ram from the constituency.
Unauthorised colonies housing migrant workers
Located in southeast Delhi, Sangam Vihar is one of the largest unauthorized colonies in the country. It is mostly inhabited by migrant workers and landless labourers from North Indian states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and parts of Madhya Pradesh. Basic amenities like electricity and water are often lacking, and hygiene and privacy are minimal.