Malviya Nagar: Fight between incumbent MLA and new faces
New Delhi: Malviya Nagar is one of the 70 assembly constituencies of Delhi which has a mixed voter population. The Congress and the BJP have fielded new faces against incumbent MLA Somnath Bharti. The constituency has over 1.5 lakh voters which include more than 81,000 male voters and more than 69,000 female voters and two from "other" category.
In 2015 Assembly election, Bharti won the seat by defeating Nandani Sharma of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) with a margin of 15,897 votes. "Whoever has brought development will get my vote," said Mushtakir, a resident of Balmiki camp.
Hauz Khas, Safdarjung Enclave, Masjid Moth, Gautam Nagar, Begum Pur, Malviya Nagar, Hauz Rani, Kherki village, Krishna Nagar are some of the areas that come under this constituency.
According to voters, they will keep water, sewerage, drainage, traffic congestion, parking, cleanliness related issues on their priority list before pressing EVM's button. "In the last five years, Somnath Bharti has always been available for people," said 80-year-old Meena, a resident of Balmiki Camp.
The octagenarian further said that in her area, she has to face cleanliness and drainage problems. During rainy season, drainage water get inside the houses. Parvez, a resident of Hauz Rani, said he was happy with Delhi Government scheme of electricity and water facility. A retired government employee Chiranjee Lal said,"In the last 5 years, Somnath Bharti was approachable. He has worked for the development of the area."
While Hariom Gautam from Gautam Nagar area said the scarcity of parking space and cleanliness are the biggest problems in the area. Another resident Ramesh Dutt Sharma said he will cast his vote on nationalism. Virender Kumar, who runs a shop in Masjid Moth area, said the AAP has worked hard and have also given free water and electricity.
"There are small issues like potholes and poor drainage system and I hope that it will be resolved in future," added Kumar.
The incumbent AAP MLA from Malviya Nagar Somnath Bharti is confident that he will be re-elected from Malviya Nagar. He said that they have reached out to every single resident here through their Mohalla Sabhas and WhatsApp groups, which have also helped him to stay in constant touch with residents over the last five years. "I have a dream to make Malviya Nagar a model constituency which I will fulfil," Bharti added.
Meanwhile, BJP has fielded Shailender Singh Monty (former SDMC councillor) whereas Neetu Verma Soin is Congress candidate from Malviya Nagar constituency.
Shailender Singh Monty said that in Malviya Nagar, there are water issues, improper sewerage system and poor roads.
"If I am elected, the priority is to make sure that there should be the improvement of water supply in the area. We will re-energise sewerage and drainage systems in the constituency," he said, adding that every step will be taken to combat air pollution.
Bharti said that 40 borewells have been installed as a standby water source for all residents. They have replaced over 37 kilometre sewer lines to facilitate proper drainage system. More than 50 kilometres of water pipelines were replaced.
Congress candidate Neetu Verma Soin, former DUSU president, said there is no development in the constituency. There are issues of parking space, improper lighting, traffic congestion. "I will work for the development and will also ensure that people don't have to go helter-skelter, if I am elected," she said, adding that she will ensure proper lighting and self-defence camps to empower girls.
For traffic de-congestion, the incumbent MLA Bharti said they constructed roundabout at Chaudhary Dilip Singh Marg in Hauz Khas. There were also 17 slip roads left turn widening at various locations in the constituency. "About 100 kilometres of roads and lanes were constructed in the constituency," he said.
