NEW DELHI: One of the worst affected areas in northeast Delhi during the infamous Delhi Riots of 2020; a place that has witnessed major fire incidents causing severe damage to the lives and lands of innocents, with the most recent incident in 2022 which killed seven people–this is Gokulpur.
The assembly was created following reshuffles by the delimitation commission of 2008. It is a cluster of 45 unauthorised colonies and a resettlement colony. Also, it is one of the 12 constituencies reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. Of the 1.94 lakh voters here, about 90,000 (46%) are from scheduled subcastes like Khatik, Mallaha, Koli and Valmiki.
Opened drains, homelessness, acute water crisis, unauthorised colonies removed from public amenities are some of the perpetual problems for Gokulpur residents. Unfortunately, as residents say, this part of Delhi will always remain underdeveloped.
In Gokalpur assembly constituency, there are a total of four wards, namely Harsh Vihar, Saboli, Gokalpuri and Joharipur. In January this year, the municipal corporation had promised that within six months, the Gokulpur Drain would be covered for public safety; a library would be fully established and the civic body would set up a dispensary for local health needs. However, residents worry if any of these promises will ever be fulfilled.
One of the residents of Gokulpur, Ashraf Khan, says, “It is easy to narrate a story about slums with its open drain, congested lanes, decrepit state of public utilities; but to live here is like a long-stretched nightmare. As a voter, most of us like me are hopeless creatures; we know that the government will never be able to implement any of the promises that they usually make. In their vision, we will always be called, ‘jamnapaari’ (people who live on the other bank of the Yamuna) and it is the most negative perception according to me.”
However, an auto-rickshaw driver, Balram, said, “There were times when we never had sufficient water supply; but now, drinking water is available round the clock. Gokulpur is now well connected to the other parts of the city via roads and metro; I am happy. The BJP government will win from our assembly this time as well.”