Three-cornered fight for affluent Model Town's mandate

New Delhi: Within close proximity to the lush North campus of Delhi University and sprung up in the heart of North Delhi, Model Town is a largely affluent area with pockets of industrial settlements and slums. The assembly constituency, which was a Congress stronghold before 2013, will choose between two-time winner Akhilesh Pati Tripathi (AAP), Akanksha Ola (INC), daughter of three-time Congress MLA from the seat Kanwar Karan Singh and turncoat ex-MLA Kapil Mishra (BJP).

Residents in the area are most troubled with issues such as poor road infrastructure, unsafe power lines, poor sewage systems, and intermittent water supply. While most residents are happy with the progress Tripathi has made and his approachability, the fight between INC and BJP will be the one to watch.

Lata (27), a housemaid from Model Town's Lal Bagh area said that sewer lines were put in here neighbourhood after the AAP government came to power in 2015. "Nobody before them thought about us living in one corner of the constituency. We now have proper sewer lines installed here and also water lines for 24-hour water supply," she said.

While most colonies in the constituency are either condominium settlements or affluent neighbourhoods with large mansions, the privileged have their own problems of poor local service in their area. Ramesh Chaudhary (47), an entrepreneur who lives in the Gurjanwala Colony said that they have not been able to get local authorities to repair their roads and untangle their power lines. Another resident in the Mahendru Enclave said that just one of the power poles had caught fire multiple times in the last few months due to tangled power lines.

Meanwhile, another resident of Lal Bagh said that despite AAP's good intentions, there was much more work to be done. Raj Kumar, a 26-year-old tailor said that while water lines have been installed, services are yet to begin and in the government's rush to focus on education, community spaces like parks were repurposed for schools.

"Now, the children don't have a place to play and if they play on the roads people object," he said referring to the nature of his neighbourhood, which is tucked in between a large traders hub.

While AAP's Tripathi is banking on his efforts since 2013 to win him the seat a third time, the more interesting fight will be the one between Congress and the BJP as both vie for voters who might be looking for a faster pace of development.

Interestingly, INC's Ola will be fighting for the seat, which once belonged to her father Kanwar Karan Singh. While the goodwill her father has built over the years does seem to pull voters for her, the fight between BJP and Congress in the constituency has only intensified since AAP entered the fray. In 2013, the difference between the two parties was just a matter of 6,634 votes but this grew drastically in 2015, where the Congress was over 21,000 votes behind the BJP.

Besides, former AAP MLA Kapil Mishra's populist campaign under the BJP banner has also found some takers, which might just end up having an effect on polling day.