In Greater Kailash, development is the biggest issue

NEW DELHI: The crowded Bus Rapid Transport corridor is one of the arteries that open into the demographically diverse Greater Kailash assembly constituency, which has planned upscale colonies like Greater Kailash I and II, and Panchsheel; middle-class hubs of DDA flats in Kalkaji, Sant Nagar, Sheikh Serai and Chittaranjan Park, and urban villages likes Chirag Dilli and Zamrudpur.
Traffic congestion and urban planning are major sore points as single-storey houses in colonies planned during the 1970s have transformed into four-storey builder apartments while parked vehicles have reduced road space. There's chaos around the popular GK-I market, and residents complain of commercialization of residential property around the entry to GK-II near Savitri Cinema.
Dissatisfaction with the pace of development remains high in planned areas as well as the constituency's villages and slums more than a year after the 2013 assembly polls in which this long-time BJP bastion voted for Aam Aadmi Party's Saurabh Bhardwaj. Urbanized villages like Chirag Dilli steered the shift and the middle class too supported AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal's call for clean governance.
The mood is certainly shifting again as Delhi heads for fresh polls after a year marked by AAP's 49 days in government and then months of uncertainty over government formation while the capital remained under President's rule. The Lok Sabha results of 2014 reflected the changing mood here when the middle class and even people in villages voted for BJP instead of AAP. Congress performed even worse as voters punished it for its government's showing at the Centre.

Next month's assembly elections are going to be a different ball game and it is evident as BJP, AAP and Congress focus their energies to capture this seat. While BJP and AAP remain the two major contenders, Congress is clawing its way back into the fight. BJP is yet to declare a candidate from this seat held by former MP V K Malhotra till the 2013 polls. His son A K Malhotra fought the 2013 polls and lost to AAP. Congress is fielding President Pranab Mukherjee's daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee, who is a renowned activist and danseuse and a resident of GK. Bhardwaj, who was also a minister in the Kejriwal government, is back to fight for AAP while BJP is looking for a strong candidate who can articulate the "Modi factor" to its advantage.