AAP representing Purvanchalis since day one, says Dilip Pandey
From the promise of standing beside the self-respect of the Purvanchali community to the dream of transforming the Yamuna Paar area. From stardom vs common man goals to the issue of full statehood, AAP North East Delhi candidate Dilip Pandey talks exclusively to Sayantan Ghosh.
North East Delhi has a large Purvanchali population and from the day 1, AAP alleged that BJP has deleted many such voters name from the list, what is the ground situation of this constituency?
To understand the ground politics of this constituency you have to look at the history of Purvanchalis in Delhi. Before AAP came to power in Delhi there was no political party which prioritised the Purvanchalis. When we started our work from day one we started representing these people. When I became the state convenor, I started sitting with the community people regularly to find out the issues they face. Later, BJP brought MP Manoj Tiwari who however hardly represented the Purvanchalis of Delhi. Then a time came when Purvanchalis were beaten up mercilessly by the BJP. We protested and held many local rallies. I also wrote to the BJP MPs on the issue but no one really did anything. Lastly, they came down to cut voters names from the list and we unmasked that too. Recently, if you see the Purvanchali turn out at Manoj Tiwari's rally at Ramleela Maidan, you will see that there was very less Purvanchali presence. This shows that in the ground BJP has no support of these people.
Current MP from this area is not only the state BJP chief but also one of the biggest stars of Bhojpuri film industry, how difficult for you to fight his stardom?
He is a very big man and a star. But my fight is not against the stardom but for the people of North East Delhi. This part has been underdeveloped for years and that is what my top focus is. People of this area has always voted for big names some times for stars, sometimes for great politicians but this time I want people to vote for a person who stays with them. I can not fight the money power of BJP but I have the willpower hence here is the fight between money vs willpower.
If you become the MP then what are the key things you would be working?
If you ever ask a person of North East Delhi who is travelling to Central Delhi that where is he or she going, then you will get the answer that he or she is going to Delhi. The people here still find them as people of "Yamuna Paar" and my key focus is to change this notion. I will make this as developed as Delhi. The work has already started and the kickstart was the inauguration of Signature Bridge. Thereafter metro Pink Line also work also completed and many key projects of making roads are on the pipeline.
When so many development works are needed for this area then how are you communicating the party's key agenda of full statehood demand to the people?
It is not a tough job as a major section of this are is the direct beneficiary of the Delhi government schemes. When I talk about full statehood I also say that on the full statehood can make Delhi safer and also help me to finish the pending works for. For an underdeveloped are like this constituency safety, housing, education and jobs have high demand. I am telling them that only if we get the full-statehood we would be able to deliver as required else everything would be delayed. I think the people of Delhi have witnessed the good work of AAP-government and empathise with the fact that the Center always obstruct the work.
