Lok Sabha poll: Delhi to vote in single phase on May 25

Tribune News Service

Anshita Mehra

New Delhi, March 16

With the announcement of the 18th Lok Sabha poll schedule by the Election Commission of India on Saturday, the stage is set for an exciting electoral battle in New Delhi, the Capital, which will witness a two-cornered fight between the BJP on one hand and the AAP-Congress pre-poll coalition on the other.

AAP-Cong seek to end BJP all-seat winning streak

Delhi will vote in a single phase on May 25 to elect candidates for seven parliamentary constituencies.

Riding the wave of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity, the BJP is eyeing a hat-trick, having swept all seven seats in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress and AAP combine will bank on consolidating the anti-BJP votes and preventing division.

Key poll issues

Modi factor: The BJP has relied on PM’s popularity to woo voters. This time too, the party will go to campaign with ‘Modi ki guarantee’.

caa: The Centre announced the implementation of the CAA. AAP and Cong have claimed it will lead to ‘politics of polarisation’.

Ayodhya temple: The Pran Pratishtha of Ram Lalla’s idol at a new temple in his birthplace in UP will be one of the most important highlights of the BJP’s campaign.

Water and power schemes: Like in the Delhi Assembly poll, the AAP expects its government’s free water and electricity schemes to be major vote pullers also in the General Election.

L-G-AAP tussle: The AAP has often accused the BJP and the Lt-Governor of obstructing the works of its government.

Scams and corruption: The BJP will raise the alleged Delhi excise policy scam and the arrest of AAP leaders to target AAP.

Women’s safety: The BJP will highlight its ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ and ‘Ujjwala’ schemes to show its commitment towards women empowerment. The rivals could raise the issue of sexual harassment allegations by woman wrestlers against Brij Bhushan.

Raids on Oppn leaders: The Congress and AAP have been accusing the Centre of using Central agencies of targeting Opposition leaders.

Unauthorised colonies: The lack of civic amenities in these residential pockets will figure in leaders’ speeches.

The BJP’s principal campaign plank includes PM Modi’s leadership, his guarantees, CAA, Ram Mandir and beneficiary segments. The party has also made efforts to mitigate anti-incumbency in Delhi LS seats by replacing six of the seven sitting MPs and retaining only Manoj Tiwari in northeast Delhi. Tiwari, a two-term MP, will run for a third term.

Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, currently Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, will represent the party in the south Delhi constituency. Praveen Khandelwal, a local businessman, has been selected to contest from Chandni Chowk. Harsh Malhotra, a former east Delhi Municipal Corporation member and Delhi BJP general secretary, will vie for the east Delhi seat. Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of the late External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, a lawyer by profession and Delhi BJP secretary, has been nominated for the New Delhi constituency.

Yogendra Chandolia, former Chairman of the Standing Committee in the MCD and Delhi BJP general secretary, will contest from northwest Delhi. Lastly, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, former mayor of South MCD, will represent the party in west Delhi.

The AAP will contest four constituencies in a pre-poll tie-up with the Congress, which has secured three constituencies. East Delhi, south Delhi, New Delhi and west Delhi are in AAP’s fold. The AAP has nominated Kuldeep Kumar, whose father works as a sanitation worker, as its candidate for east Delhi; Sahiram Pahalwan, a two-time AAP MLA from Tughlakabad, for south Delhi; Mahabal Mishra, a seasoned politician in the Capital with experience as a councillor and member of the DDA, for west Delhi; and Somnath Bharti, a former lawyer who previously won the Assembly elections from Malviya Nagar on the AAP ticket, for New Delhi.

The Congress is yet to announce candidates for northeast Delhi, Chandni Chowk and northwest Delhi. The Congress central election panel will meet on March 19 to discuss Delhi candidates.

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