Battleground Delhi: Race heats up for Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat
20 March 2014 5:29 AM IST
This seat was then comprised of four assembly segments, namely, Chandni Chowk, Ballimaran, Sadar Delhi and Matia Mahal. However, in 2008, after Delimitation, the constituency was extended way beyond the Walled City.
Till the General Elections in 2004, Chandni Chowk was the smallest parliamentary constituency in the country with an area of 10.59 square kilometers. Now it encompasses not only the congested commercial stretch of walled city and civil lines, but it has also crossed other resettlement and slum areas of Adarsh Nagar.
Traditional voters of Bharatiya Janata Party from the Bania and Punjabi community have since migrated from these areas to neighbouring areas like Ghaziabad, Noida, Sahibabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad. This shift has made it tough for the BJP. Meanwhile, a large of number of the Muslim voters have preferred to stay in these areas.
With 14.36 lakh voters, this constituency has 35 per cent Bania and 12 per cent Punjabi voters. Muslims stand at 21 per cent, Scheduled Caste at 26 per cent and 9 per cent Brahmin.
After the implementation of the recommendations by the Delimitation commission in 2008, the addition of seven more assembly constituencies has reduced the share Muslim voters once occupied.
Statistics shows that addition of unauthorised colonies and JJ clusters from outer Delhi and East constituencies like Wazirpur, Model Town, Adarsh Nagar, Shakur Basti, has increased the presence of Other Backward Classes by 18.83 per cent and Scheduled Caste by 16 per cent. These figures may not augur well for the BJP.
Muslims in the Walled City are apprehensive of the BJP, despite the fact that BJP candidate Harsh Vardhan was brought up in this area. According to sources, this aspect hardly cuts any ice with Muslim voters. The prevailing reality is that Narendra Modi has become the party’s main mascot in these elections.
Harsh Vardhan hails from the Bania community. However, in the 2013 Assembly polls, of the 10 assembly seats, AAP snatched away four seats, while the BJP won three. The Congress won two seats and Shoib Iqbal was the lone winner from the Janata Dal(U).
Sitting MP Kapil Sibal is contesting for the third time from this constituency. Muslims in the constituency are of the view that he hasn’t done much for the community during his current term.
Most voters in the constituency have felt that their representative has been inaccessible. The perception amongst Muslim voters is that the Congress is not longer capable of stopping Narendra Modi. They feel Arvind Kejriwal is the only one who can create strong barriers against BJP’s PM candidate.
AAP has fielded former journalist Ashutosh, who is from the Bania community. Despite gaining strong traction with OBC and SC voters, others in the constituency feel that the AAP-led government abdicated from their responsibilities after their 49-day tenure. However, minority voters may swing the ballot towards AAP, with the Congress not viewed as a credible alternative.
Till the General Elections in 2004, Chandni Chowk was the smallest parliamentary constituency in the country with an area of 10.59 square kilometers. Now it encompasses not only the congested commercial stretch of walled city and civil lines, but it has also crossed other resettlement and slum areas of Adarsh Nagar.
Traditional voters of Bharatiya Janata Party from the Bania and Punjabi community have since migrated from these areas to neighbouring areas like Ghaziabad, Noida, Sahibabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad. This shift has made it tough for the BJP. Meanwhile, a large of number of the Muslim voters have preferred to stay in these areas.
With 14.36 lakh voters, this constituency has 35 per cent Bania and 12 per cent Punjabi voters. Muslims stand at 21 per cent, Scheduled Caste at 26 per cent and 9 per cent Brahmin.
After the implementation of the recommendations by the Delimitation commission in 2008, the addition of seven more assembly constituencies has reduced the share Muslim voters once occupied.
Statistics shows that addition of unauthorised colonies and JJ clusters from outer Delhi and East constituencies like Wazirpur, Model Town, Adarsh Nagar, Shakur Basti, has increased the presence of Other Backward Classes by 18.83 per cent and Scheduled Caste by 16 per cent. These figures may not augur well for the BJP.
Muslims in the Walled City are apprehensive of the BJP, despite the fact that BJP candidate Harsh Vardhan was brought up in this area. According to sources, this aspect hardly cuts any ice with Muslim voters. The prevailing reality is that Narendra Modi has become the party’s main mascot in these elections.
Harsh Vardhan hails from the Bania community. However, in the 2013 Assembly polls, of the 10 assembly seats, AAP snatched away four seats, while the BJP won three. The Congress won two seats and Shoib Iqbal was the lone winner from the Janata Dal(U).
Sitting MP Kapil Sibal is contesting for the third time from this constituency. Muslims in the constituency are of the view that he hasn’t done much for the community during his current term.
Most voters in the constituency have felt that their representative has been inaccessible. The perception amongst Muslim voters is that the Congress is not longer capable of stopping Narendra Modi. They feel Arvind Kejriwal is the only one who can create strong barriers against BJP’s PM candidate.
AAP has fielded former journalist Ashutosh, who is from the Bania community. Despite gaining strong traction with OBC and SC voters, others in the constituency feel that the AAP-led government abdicated from their responsibilities after their 49-day tenure. However, minority voters may swing the ballot towards AAP, with the Congress not viewed as a credible alternative.
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