Lovely's return spells trouble for incumbent as AAP & Congress head for tough battle in Gandhi Nagar

New Delhi: Home to Asia's largest cloth and garment market, Gandhi Nagar Assembly constituency is a key seat this year owing to the fight between homegrown Congress leader Arvinder Singh Lovely and the AAP'S fresh face Naveen Chaudhary with the incumbent MLA Anil Kumar Bajpai having decided to fight on a BJP ticket this time after having quit the AAP. Moreover, residents in the area, largely comprising of middle-class and lower-middle-class families said that hot button issues this year include basic amenities like road repairs, drinkable water and proper sewage systems in addition to better public transport connectivity and last-mile service from metro stations to inner-city areas.

Kartar Singh (54), an auto driver who has lived in Gandhi Nagar all his life said that the area's sewage problems do not seem to end. There are several sewers along many main roads that regularly overflow into the streets, leaving a strong stench and unclean roads for commuters. "This is in fact, nothing. Just two days ago, I had to unblock the sewer near my house myself after it overflowed into my house," Singh said.

On the other hand, the household market in Gandhi Nagar, which also houses Asia's largest garment market has other problems to deal with. Many shop owners in the market complained of extremely poor road infrastructure in the congested lanes of the market and said that fire is almost a daily-life hazard they need to deal with in the area. Just last year, a massive fire had broken out in this market but no casualties were reported. Sunil Kumar (47), a garment shop owner, who has run his business in the market for over 28 years said that such fires are quite frequent.

"You see, the problem is that there are too many shops using too much power at the same time. There are not enough transformers in the area to deal with that kind of power demand and as a result, they quickly short circuit and catch fire," Kumar said, adding, however, that the AAP providing free electricity and water was definitely a boon for him.

Moreover, sealing is a problem that shop owners in the market often have to deal with as some of them said that the Delhi government and corporation authorities continuously bother them with sealing orders despite this being one of the key economic drivers in the area.

Besides, residents in the area said that road infrastructure has been crumbling in many colonies such as Rghubardas Colony, Kanti Nagar and Rajgarh Extension. Neighbourhoods like Kanti Nagar have had roads full of potholes for more than a year now. A rickshaw puller who travels the route through the colony on a daily basis said, "This road seems to be dug up all the time. I have never seen this road being repaired or people working on it."

Further, Atmaram (69), a resident of Rajgarh colony said that they had tried approaching authorities with their water problems but nothing was done to address it. "Every day we get dirty, unusable water from our taps and clean water for just a few moments. We do not know what else we can do." Singh also complained of dirty water and drainage problems in Raghubardas Colony, where he lives. He added that road congestion has been a key issue and regular road blockages have become a norm now.

"Sometimes for travelling less than three kilometres within Gandhi Nagar, I have to spend more than 25 minutes due to road blockages in every other lane," he complained, adding that auto drivers in the area have specifically been asking for an auto stand in the constituency. "Nobody has listended to use. Now, we just park our autos in front of the garment market and hope police does not challan us. It is on our own risk," he said.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party is hopeful of taking advantage of Anil Bajpai's incumbency in Gandhi Nagar, the AAP has decided to pin its hopes on the Kejriwal government's works in the last year. However, interestingly, what both parties might not have considered is that in 2015, Lovely did not contest at all. This year, Lovely's return to state politics poses a serious threat to the prospect of both the AAP and the BJP, given his local connect with residents, who have already given him a mandate four times.