Ambedkar Nagar locals in a fix, don't know which party to trust

People of Ambedkar Nagar constituency are in a fix because they don’t know which party to trust anymore.

In the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections, the electorate here ousted Congress party’s Chaudhary Prem Singh, locally known as the Bhishma Pitamah of politics, by electing Aam Aadmi candidate Ashok Kumar Chauhan.

But Ashok Kumar Chauhan switched to Bharatiya Janata Party to contest from the constituency this time.

Chaudhary Prem Singh, who had never lost elections since 1958 from Ambedkar Nagar until 2013, is contesting again from the constituency on a Congress ticket.

Now, voters in the area feel that they are left with no choice, but to follow the traditional voting pattern.

“I voted for the Aam Aadmi Party last elections because we believed in it, but its candidate has now joined BJP. It means candidates don’t have any political ideology. They can join any party, which means our vote has got no meaning,” said Krishan Lal, a grocery shop owner in Khanpur Village. “We have no choice but to vote on conventional lines,” he added.

The Ambedkar Nagar constituency comprises Pushp Vihar, Dakshipuri, Madangir, Khanpur Village, Shiv Park and Sainik Farms Colony, among others.

Some people who had voted against their family’s tradition in the last Assembly elections are now returning to the fold. “My family has always voted for Congress and it wanted me to do the same in the last elections, but I preferred None of the Above (NOTA) option.

Seeing the political developments in the constituency, I think I might have to listen to my family these elections,” said Rohit Chauhan, a resident of Pushp Vihar.

Street vendors in the area said they have always been harassed by municipal officials and police.
“There is this drain where work is going on for years. If the authorities can cover it, we can get adequate space to sell things there without causing inconvenience to anybody,” said a vendor.

“Police often evict us and confiscate our goods. Political parties have used us as mere political planks,” he added.

Residents of Pushp Vihar have been demanding a flyover for a long time. “The area sees traffic jams during rush hours everyday. There is a dire need of a flyover and it has been approved in principle by every political party, but nothing has happened so far,” said Neena Malhotra, a Delhi University student who lives in Sector-3 in Pushp Vihar.

“We even require Metro connectivity in the area.”
The common issues that all four parties – Aam Aadmi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party – contesting in the area are highlighting are good quality drinking water for all, adequate supply of electricity, doing away with corruption and Metro connectivity.

Chaudhary Prem Singh said that he will be able to garner votes to defeat his arch-rival Ashok Kumar Chauhan. “People of the area have seen the real side of Ashok Kumar Chauhan. He is an opportunist who is switching sides for political gains,” Singh told Deccan Herald.

But Chauhan said that Singh has fooled the public for many years. “In the last elections only people showed that they don’t want him to be their MLA. They will continue to do,” Chauhan added. “I have been working for the development of the area for many years. People cannot forget me,” he said.
DH News Service