NEW DELHI: Delhi’s Kalkaji assembly, famed for Kalkaji and Lotus temples, besides upscale colonies, has been lurking beneath the surface; residents have raised concerns over a range of civic issues that demand urgent attention.
Shilpa Sharma, a resident of Govindpuri, said that although the main roads in the area are well maintained, the by-lanes are polar opposite. “The lanes are full of potholes that get filled with water during monsoon, making it very difficult to commute,” she said.
Residents also complained of vendors setting up shop on the side of the roads, leading to significant congestion. “The problem is made worse by people parking on the roads. We have complained to authorities multiple times, but nothing gets done,” Sharma said.
Another resident, Brijesh Mandal, echoed similar sentiments, expressing frustration over the accumulation of garbage on street corners, non-functional street lights, and irregular maintenance of parks.
The assembly shot to fame in past years as it is represented by AAP leader and Delhi minister Atishi. In 2020, Atishi won the constituency after defeating Dharmbir from the BJP by over 11,000 votes. AAP’s Avtar Singh had won the constituency in 2015 with an even larger margin of almost 20,000.
Despite this dominance, the South Delhi parliamentary constituency, of which Kalkaji is a part, has been a BJP bastion, with the party winning the seat eight times in the last nine elections. BJPs Ramesh Bhiduri won the seat with comfortable margins in 2014 and 2019.
This time, the BJP has fielded Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, the Opposition Leader in the Delhi Assembly and MLA from the Badarpur assembly. Bidhuri is said to have a good hold over the Gujjar community, which is dominant in the constituency.
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party has nominated two-time Tughlaqabad MLA Sahiram Pahalwan from the constituency. Pahalwan has been involved in grassroots politics since 1993. He is known to have a deep understanding of local politics, having previously contested elections for the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
The AAP has started its campaign quickly, with local MLA Atishi accompanying Pahalwan in a door-to-doordoor-to-door campaign in Kalkaji’s Govindpuri extension as part of the party’s “Jail ka Jawab Vote Se” campaign.
The Lok Sabha elections will be held in the national capital on May 25 in the sixth phase of seven-phase polls with counting of votes on June 4. The AAP and Congress are in alliance with 4:3 seat sharing agreement to take on the BJP.