Mustafabad residents seek hospitals, schools

As the Delhi Assembly elections near, the Mustafabad seat in the North-East Delhi has voters on their feet, as the segment is likely to witness a four-cornered fight with the entry of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) in the fray.

Advertisement

The constituency came into being in 2008 as part of the Delimitation Commission of India constituted in 2002. The Congress bagged the seat twice in 2008 and 2013. In the initial election, Congress’ Hasan Ahmed defeated BJP’s Yogender Kumar Sharma by a miniscule margin of 979 votes.

He came back in 2013, defeating saffron party’s Jagdish Pradhan by less than 2000 votes. However, the latter defeated the former in the next elections in 2015.

A local resident of the area, Mohammad Saif, said, “The development that has happened in the area occurred during the Congress’ and BJP’s term. Hasan Sahab and Pradhan Ji have been stalwart leaders of the area.”

The Congress and BJP’s dominance in the area came to end with the wave of the AAP in 2019, its candidate defeated Pradhan and Hasan’s son Ali Mahndi.

“Haji became an MLA because there was an AAP wave in the national capital. However, this time the picture looks very different. None of the contenders fielded by all the parties look to have a smaller presence. In my opinion the vote should be made in terms of the development.” Saif added.

For the 2025 elections, AAP has launched its close-confidant of Arvind Kejriwal – Adil Ahmad Khan – into the mix. While, Ali Mahndi has once again been chosen as the candidate for Congress and in a turnaround, Mohan Singh Bisht who has a mass following in the Karawal Nagar seat, being an MLA thrice has been shifted to Mustafabad.

The BJP earlier received a backlash after Bisht was denied a ticket from Karawal Nagar. However, it released another list with just his name from the this segment.

Jagtap Singh, a resident, said, “The BJP seemed to have lost the battle in this constituency. However, Bisht’s entry has created more hopes for the party to win the seat since all other big parties have launched a Muslim candidate. He is a big leader.”

Another resident from the area, Imran complained of the poor condition of roads in the constituency.