Want to fulfill my father's dream for Tilak Nagar, says BJP's Rajiv Babbar
The BJP candidate from Tilak Nagar Assembly constituency, Rajiv Babbar is all set to take the fight to AAP's Jarnail Singh, who has defeated the saffron man twice from the seat. While the 2015 margin between the two was over 20,000 votes most likely owing to the AAP wave, the 2013 polls had seen a nail-biting fight between the two with Singh edging a victory out by a margin of a little over 2,00 votes. In an exclusive interview with Abhinay Lakshman of Millennium Post, Babbar gets into the details of his campaign and his vision for Tilak Nagar — modeled after his father OP Babbar's dreams, who was himself elected from the seat thrice. Excerpts:
How is the campaign going so far? What is your strategy?
See, I'm working with a positive agenda of mine, sharing my vision with the people of my constituency. I talk to residents at small gatherings and tell them about what I want to do for them. Till now I have had more than 100 such meetings and many more are scheduled in the coming days. This is the way I'm reaching my voters. I think we need to convince the voter about our agenda. Voters are this time interested to listen to the candidates. So they are now thinking about how to get to know the candidate and his/her vision and until I reach out to them there is no way I can strike a connection with the electorate.
What is your vision for Tilak Nagar?
The biggest problem here is that the AAP-government has not done work to reduce pollution. They have not yet found a solution to that and it continues to remain one of the biggest issues in our area. I want to start by installing three smoke towers in the constituency to help alleviate pollution. We had also procured land from DDA to build a sports stadium when my father was MLA here but work on that has been stopped and the land is now being wasted. I also want to restart that project and build the sports stadium which will be the biggest in West Delhi. I had also started work on an MCD hospital and want to finish it properly.
What are the local issues you are looking at during your campaign?
Look, the AAP MLA here has not done much. Parking mismanagement and stalling of road projects and stadium projects are real issues that are affecting people here. Besides, senior citizen pension is a very serious matter here. In our time, there was a pension of Rs 15,000 and now it is much less. I want to work on that too. In addition, we have mapped out our area and seen that there are 17,183 youth and 57 per cent above the age of 40 and I also wish to work on creating employment opportunities through my NGO. Moreover, my father had started the work of covering the Subhash Nagar drain and from 2008-13, nearly 85 per cent of the work on the drain was done but in the five years since AAP came here, the last 15 per cent is yet to be completed. The road over the drain, once completed, will also be able to address issues of traffic congestion.
What are your plans as far as education and healthcare are concerned?
There are two aspects to this — one in the Assembly and one at the local level. As far as the Vidhan Sabha is concerned, I can promise residents that I will stand up and speak on education and healthcare in the Assembly. And as for the local level, I want to work on promoting government schools because I found out that of the 10 schools in Tilak Nagar, 18 per cent students had dropped out due to mismanagement of the schools. I also want to fulfill my father's dream to build a medical college in the DDU Hospital. We had got sanction for that from the Centre as well and I want to get that done along with improving the facilities in the hospital.
How crucial will the Shaheen Bagh and Anti-CAA/NRC protests be for your campaign?
This issue has been created by AAP. They have helped Shaheen Bagh people and even sponsored them. Why are you supporting them? Are you dividing society? In my constituency, there is a very big issue. There is a feeling here that the CM is appeasing Muslims and this whole Shaheen Bagh matter is a sensitive issue and people want to know about it. Every election has state issues, local issues and national issues and Shaheen Bagh is definitely an important part of my campaign.
How do you plan to tackle petty crimes and crimes against women in the area?
We have analysed the entire area and found that there are 37 dark spots. The first priority will be to light them up and make sure the streets can be made safe for all. I also want to work with the youth in my constituency to make youngsters more responsible and of course, constant and close contact with law enforcement authorities so that if anything happens they can act promptly.
What gives you an edge in Tilak Nagar this time around?
I have been working here for 20 years. Even after I lost the polls last year, I did not close my office and continued working for the people. The AAP MLA has clearly not done the work here and the Subhash Nagar drain is just one example. People are comparing previous MLAs with AAP and saying that 'Babbar is better' - so that is my edge.
