My first priority is to strengthen public transport system: Lovely
Four-time MLA from Gandhi Nagar, Congress' Arvinder Singh Lovely is all set to wrest the constituency from the Aam Aadmi Party, unfazed by the absence of senior party leadership from his campaign trail. In a exclusive interview with Abhinay Lakshman of Millennium Post, Lovely talks about how conditions in his neighbourhood have deteriorated since 2015, his connect with the residents and his vision for Gandhi Nagar. Excerpts:
What is your vision for Gandhi Nagar's electorate?
My first priority is to strengthen the public transport system here, which is a need not just for locals but for the 2-3 lakh people who travel to and from the area every day. And despite Gandhi Nagar having such an important garment market, there are no bus routes than run though here because the current government has run out of buses. I want to clear up road traffic congestion and also seriously address air pollution in my area. Also, there used to be a Yamuna Par Vikas Board, whose recommendations were completely ignored - I want to restart that as well.
How are you approaching your campaign here this time?
My personal relationship with voters here cannot be shaken. I personally interact with residents in every colony and every lane. And people here have missed my leadership for the last five years. Gandhi Nagar's state is the same as I left it in 2013. One-to-one relationships with residents are my strongest advantage here so we are focusing on that.
What are some issues you plan to address in your campaign?
Firstly, there has been no progress with community centres here. Today, the number of community centres is the same as we left the constituency with in 2013. The same is the case for hospitals and water users. You're talking about problems that have cropped up - there is sewer water overflowing in every corner of the constituency, sealing problem. This is Asia's largest garment market and despite it being a household market, Delhi Government and local authorities are going ahead with illegal sealing. Instead of an iron bridge, we had proposed a bridge, which has not been made and the iron bridge has stopped pedestrian traffic, leading to increased congestion on roads.
A very major part of the constituency is affected because of the Kailash Nagar drain as well. The drain has begun crumbling at certain places. There are only problems here.
You said Gandhi Nagar has Asia's largest garment market but it is rife with fire problems. Your solution?
See, we had already made a plan much like the one we had implemented in Sadar Bazaar. In the entire market, there would be water lines with the provision of easy access to fire extinguishers so that every lane in the market can have access to some fire control mechanism. The same proposal we had designed for the Gandhi Nagar market which could not be implemented.
Will the anti-CAA/NRC protest rhetoric be important to your campaign?
See, this is clearly not a campaign issue. It is about taking a stand. It's not about just minorities. The people who believe in our Constitution, that it should be implemented in the right spirit - based on Gandhi's and Ambedkar's ideals; all of them are opposing CAA and NRC. So, you see there is no politics here. It is more about what's right.
