AAP set to make impact
26 Jan 2015 10:13 PM GMT
Chandni Chowk, Matia Mahal, Sadar Bazar and Ballimaran assembly constituencies are part of the Walled City with a sizeable minority and vaishya votes. If there is one thing that remains unchanged over the years, it is the perennial issues of congestion, illegal construction, sanitation and water scarcity plaguing the entire walled city areas.
With the migration of people (in and out) at mass-level during the past 15 years, the demographic and voting pattern has also been affected. Rapid commercialisation forced many affluent people residing in havelis in narrow lanes of the Walled City to move out but on the other hand, a large part of the minority people preferred to stay on in the ghettos. To put it in perspective, it’s the vaishya and Punjabi population who have since moved out in greater numbers than the Muslim population.
Demographically, the Walled City has 37-40 per cent voters belonging to the minority community, followed the other backward communities and the scheduled castes. In the last assembly polls in 2013, the ruling Congress in the Walled City bagged two out of four seats — Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk.
The Matia Mahal seat was once again retained by Shoib Iqbal, who has been winning this seat since 1993. This time, Iqbal is contesting on a Congress ticket, while BJP has fielded Shakeel Anjum Dehalvi and AAP has given ticket to Asim Khan. Iqbal is undoubtedly, facing a tough fight. During the last assembly elections, AAP was not so popular, as its candidate Shakeel Anjum was placed third. This time Anjum is contesting the election with a BJP ticket.
Ballimaran assembly constituency has been a citadel of Congress’ Haroon Yusuf, who has been the MLA from the area since 1993. Yusuf had defeated BJP candidate Moti Lal Sodhi with a comfortable margin in the last election. AAP candidate Farhana Anjum was placed on fourth position last time with 13,103 votes.
After the delimitation process in 2008, the Muslim votes have come down from 65 percent to 48 percent in seat. This time AAP has fielded sitting councillor Imran Hussain and BJP launched Shyam Morwal. The Muslim voters are believed to be enamoured with the work done by Imran Hussain as the local councillor.
In the last assembly polls, Congress candidate Prahlad Singh Swahney had won Chandni Chowk seat with a comfortable margin of over 8,000 defeating BJP’s Suman Kumar Gupta. Swahney has been winning in Chandni Chowk for the past four terms. This time, the senior Congress leader is faced a huge challenge from AAP contender Alka Lamba. BJP has again fielded Suman Kumar Gupta. It is expected that Chandni Chowk constituency will witness a neck and neck fight between the BJP and AAP.
Sadar Bazar assembly constituency would be a very interesting battle as Congress has fielded high profile former Union minister Ajay Maken as its candidate. Maken has already won three terms as MLA from Rajouri Garden and elected two-terms as MP from New Delhi. Earlier, Sadar Bazar was represented by Rajesh Jain, who was defeated by AAP’s Som Dutt by nearly 1,000 votes. AAP has again fielded Som Dutt this time but the BJP has given a ticket to Praveen Jain, in place of Jai Prakash.
Walled City In Numbers
Ballimaran
 MLA Haroon Yusuf : 132459 voters, 48 per cent Muslim, 18 per cent OBC, 15 percentage SC, 11 percentage Bania, 3 percentage Brahmin and 2 percentage Sikh.
 Chandni ChowkÂ
 Prahald Singh Sahwney: 107208 voters, 22 percentage Muslim, 14 percentage SC, 20 percent Bania, 5 percent Brahmin , 3 percent refugees of Tibet.
 Matia Mahal
 Shoib Iqbal : 1,09,764 voters , 48 percentage Muslim, 18 percentage OBC, 15 percentage SC, 11 percentage Bania and 3 percentage Brahmin and 2 percentage Sikh.
 Sadar Bazar
 Som Dutt- 1,53,975, 36 percentage Muslim, 7 percentage Punjabi, 8 percentage Bania, 22 percentage SC, 14 percentage OBC and 2 percentage brahmin.
With the migration of people (in and out) at mass-level during the past 15 years, the demographic and voting pattern has also been affected. Rapid commercialisation forced many affluent people residing in havelis in narrow lanes of the Walled City to move out but on the other hand, a large part of the minority people preferred to stay on in the ghettos. To put it in perspective, it’s the vaishya and Punjabi population who have since moved out in greater numbers than the Muslim population.
Demographically, the Walled City has 37-40 per cent voters belonging to the minority community, followed the other backward communities and the scheduled castes. In the last assembly polls in 2013, the ruling Congress in the Walled City bagged two out of four seats — Ballimaran and Chandni Chowk.
The Matia Mahal seat was once again retained by Shoib Iqbal, who has been winning this seat since 1993. This time, Iqbal is contesting on a Congress ticket, while BJP has fielded Shakeel Anjum Dehalvi and AAP has given ticket to Asim Khan. Iqbal is undoubtedly, facing a tough fight. During the last assembly elections, AAP was not so popular, as its candidate Shakeel Anjum was placed third. This time Anjum is contesting the election with a BJP ticket.
Ballimaran assembly constituency has been a citadel of Congress’ Haroon Yusuf, who has been the MLA from the area since 1993. Yusuf had defeated BJP candidate Moti Lal Sodhi with a comfortable margin in the last election. AAP candidate Farhana Anjum was placed on fourth position last time with 13,103 votes.
After the delimitation process in 2008, the Muslim votes have come down from 65 percent to 48 percent in seat. This time AAP has fielded sitting councillor Imran Hussain and BJP launched Shyam Morwal. The Muslim voters are believed to be enamoured with the work done by Imran Hussain as the local councillor.
In the last assembly polls, Congress candidate Prahlad Singh Swahney had won Chandni Chowk seat with a comfortable margin of over 8,000 defeating BJP’s Suman Kumar Gupta. Swahney has been winning in Chandni Chowk for the past four terms. This time, the senior Congress leader is faced a huge challenge from AAP contender Alka Lamba. BJP has again fielded Suman Kumar Gupta. It is expected that Chandni Chowk constituency will witness a neck and neck fight between the BJP and AAP.
Sadar Bazar assembly constituency would be a very interesting battle as Congress has fielded high profile former Union minister Ajay Maken as its candidate. Maken has already won three terms as MLA from Rajouri Garden and elected two-terms as MP from New Delhi. Earlier, Sadar Bazar was represented by Rajesh Jain, who was defeated by AAP’s Som Dutt by nearly 1,000 votes. AAP has again fielded Som Dutt this time but the BJP has given a ticket to Praveen Jain, in place of Jai Prakash.
Walled City In Numbers
Ballimaran
 MLA Haroon Yusuf : 132459 voters, 48 per cent Muslim, 18 per cent OBC, 15 percentage SC, 11 percentage Bania, 3 percentage Brahmin and 2 percentage Sikh.
 Chandni ChowkÂ
 Prahald Singh Sahwney: 107208 voters, 22 percentage Muslim, 14 percentage SC, 20 percent Bania, 5 percent Brahmin , 3 percent refugees of Tibet.
 Matia Mahal
 Shoib Iqbal : 1,09,764 voters , 48 percentage Muslim, 18 percentage OBC, 15 percentage SC, 11 percentage Bania and 3 percentage Brahmin and 2 percentage Sikh.
 Sadar Bazar
 Som Dutt- 1,53,975, 36 percentage Muslim, 7 percentage Punjabi, 8 percentage Bania, 22 percentage SC, 14 percentage OBC and 2 percentage brahmin.
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