Kasturba Nagar: A mixed bag constituency

New Delhi: From the posh Defence Colony to Mehar Chand market slums, the 42nd Delhi Assembly constituency Kasturba Nagar is a mixed bag with residents keeping water, sewerage, drainage related issues on the top of their priority list while pressing the button in the voting booth on February 8.

"No one is bigger than the public. We will vote for development," said Sukhdevi, a resident. Kasturba Nagar constituency has over 1.5 lakh voters which include more than 84,000 male voters and 67,930 female voters and three from "other" category. The Assembly segment has a crucial Jat and Gujjar population.

In the 2015 Assembly election, Madan Lal of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the seat by defeating Ravinder Choudhary of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) with a margin of 15,896 votes. This time also AAP has shown confidence in Madan Lal who is pitted against Ravinder Choudhary of BJP and Abhishek Dutt of Congress.

An advocate by profession, Madan Lal is confident of winning back his seat. He told Millennium Post that in the last five years the constituency has witnessed all around development. "Wherever there was a need for development, we fulfilled it - within budget," said Lal. He added that in many areas new sewer lines were installed. The focus was given on ending water scarcity in the constituency for which 18 borewells were installed."Mohalla clinics were opened, over 2,000 CCTV cameras were installed, 11 new government schools with world-class facilities are being set up, community centres were developed," Lal said. The incumbent MLA is giving more focus on door to door campaigning. He added that if he is re-elected he will focus on providing better water supply, installation of new sewer lines wherever required and elimination of dark spots from the constituency. Few schemes of Delhi government will prove to be beneficial for AAP during the Assembly polls, said Sunita, a resident of Kasturba Nagar.

The Kasturba Nagar constituency includes areas like South Extension, Lodhi Road, INA, Pillanji, Kotla Mubarakpur, Lajpat Nagar, Wazir Nagar, Sewa Nagar, Jang Pura Extension, Andrews Ganj, Sadiq Nagar and other areas.

Meanwhile, for the residents, water supply, sewage, traffic congestion, sanitation problem emerged as the crucial poll issues in the upcoming Assembly elections. Ramvati, a resident of Meharchand market slum said basic issues like water facility, sanitation, sewage lines should be sorted. "Bathrooms are not clean, the sewerage system is poor. During rainy season drain water enters into the houses," the elderly woman said. Another resident of Kasturba Nagar constituency Rahul said that in Kotla Mubarakpur area there is a problem of water supply which needs to be solved.

The BJP candidate Ravinder Choudhary is focussing on the door to door campaigns and small meetings to woo voters. "Every day we are conducting eight to 10 meetings in the constituency," he said. Choudhary said that pollution is a major issue in the election and apart from that, villages in Delhi have overflowing sewers and poor water supply. "Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) will help BJP in the election," said Choudhary.

Meanwhile, Congress has fielded Abhishek Dutt, a two-time Municipal Councillor from Andrews Ganj. "What we have done is ask voters directly about what they want and decided to prepare localised area manifesto where each area's needs would be specifically addressed," Dutt said, adding that they are focussing on massive door to door campaign.

In Defence Colony area there is a parking issue, sewer problem in Kotla Mubarakpur there is no place where women can sit. With the help of localised area manifestos, they aim to solve these problems. "As a councillor, I have opened three new schools in seven years. Besides, we have installed smart classrooms in Kasturba Nagar schools," he said.

Dutt further said that despite being just in charge of one ward he managed to get CCTV cameras installed in wards. "We have got good, qualified teachers to collaborate orientation camps for 10th and 12th students and also planned scholarship programme for students," he said. In addition, he also said that they have organised job fairs for unemployed youth and constantly stayed connected with them to know about woes.

"See, this is a local election people in our areas are more concerned with getting clean water and basic supplies for their daily lives so we will focus on those issues," he said when asked whether the CAA/NRC will have any affect on election.