NEW DELHI: Once considered a bastion of the affluent, represented by popular leaders like Madan Lal Khurana and Sushma Swaraj, South Delhi transformed the 2008 delimitation exercise. Affluent colonies such as Greater Kailash, Hauz Khas, and RK Puram were redefined, leaving behind a constituency marked by urban villages and slums.
Today, the constituency’s voting segments predominantly comprise urban villages, slums and resettlement colonies, setting the stage for intense caste politics in the national capital.
The BJP's Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and the INDIA bloc’s Sahiram Pehalwan are vying for the seat, with caste and community equations poised to influence the electoral outcome, given that both candidates hail from the same community and village.
In the previous general election, the BJP secured victory with 56.8 percent of the vote share, but the incumbent MP, Ramesh Bidhuri, has been replaced by Ramvir Singh Bidhuri amidst growing discontent and anti-incumbency sentiment.
Conversely, a decade earlier, Congress clinched the seat in 2009 with 50 percent of the vote share, while the BJP trailed with 36.5 percent.
South Delhi has historically grappled with low voter turnout, with only one instance surpassing 60 percent in the 2014 parliamentary election. The constituency witnessed its highest turnout at 62.90 percent in 2014, but a trend of alternating high and low turnout persists in subsequent elections.
With approximately 22,21,445 voters across 10 assembly seats, the constituency comprises 9,86,726 female voters, 12,34,380 male voters, and 339 third-gender voters.
A compelling poll battle is unfolding between AAP and BJP candidates, both sitting MLAs from the same community, in what has become a Gurjar versus Gurjar contest for the Lok Sabha seat.
Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, a seasoned politician with a background in the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Jan Sangh, brings decades of experience, having served as an MLA and National Executive Member of the BJP.
Meanwhile, Sahiram Pehalwan, an AAP MLA and former CISF member, has a track record of grassroots activism and political engagement, having served as Municipal Councillor and Deputy Mayor.
The ongoing campaign of Bidhuri revolves around Modi’s gurantees, the Ram Mandir inauguration and the alleged excise policy scam in which several AAP senior leaders have been named as accused. On the other hand, Pehalwan highlights the development work of the Kejriwal-led government and the alleged failure of sitting MP to address the issues.
Water scarcity has become a pressing issue in the constituency, particularly affecting unauthorised colonies. Battlegrounds for water disputes include Badarpur, Sangam Vihar, Deoli Khanpur, Pul Prahladpur, Govindpuri, Kalkaji, Bijwasan, Chhatarpur, and Mehrauli, reflecting the urgent need for infrastructure development in South Delhi.
The other key issue is traffic jam at Tigri and Khanpur main road owing to metro construction. “The construction has narrowed the roads besides encroachement,” says a resident.