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Party insiders say Sisodia probably shifted his constituency from East Delhi’s Patparganj — a symbol of his political stature and the site of major electoral wins for the AAP — to “tackle anti-incumbency and stains of corruption”
Manish Sisodia’s change of seat has prompted many in Jangpura to label him a ‘runaway’ candidate. (News18)
It’s a whole new battle for Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) top leader Manish Sisodia this February. The upcoming elections will see Delhi’s former deputy chief minister slog it out to win over people’s support once again and secure a victory, let alone a sweep, from Jangpura — a new seat he has picked.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has made a dent here, which may not be sufficient for it to win the elections, but won’t allow it to be a cakewalk for Sisodia either.
Party insiders say Sisodia probably shifted his constituency from East Delhi’s Patparganj — a symbol of his political stature and the site of major electoral wins for the AAP — to “tackle anti-incumbency and stains of corruption”. After he landed in jail in connection with the Delhi excise policy, his return to his former constituency became difficult.
This shift has prompted many in Jangpura to label him as a ‘runaway’ candidate and has made them sense the unease that Delhi’s ruling party is facing ahead of the polls this time around. Meanwhile, some others feel this shift is both a challenge and an opportunity for Sisodia to win back trust and ability as a political leader.
Gulshan Narang, 63, who has been running a spare parts shop in Bhogal for over 40 years and is also a resident in the area, asked: “Why did Sisodia have to leave his former constituency and come here instead?”
He added: “The AAP may form the government even this time since there are people who are inclined towards their politics of welfare of the lower classes, but the middle class knows well that it’s the same money that’s being taken from them and being given to the other segment of society in the name of welfare of the poor.”
The freebies, he said, on water and power bills are not of much benefit to the middle class. “My household consumption for both water and power is higher than the limit set for zero bills. For the middle class, the real issues are streets getting flooded with dirty drain water during monsoon and low water supply, which need to be fixed. The flood-water entered my shop last year and damaged all my furniture,” he said.
BJP’s candidate Tarvinder Singh Marwah, he said, is resurfacing in this election. Both Marwah and Sisodia are in a neck-and-neck fight even as the Congress tries hard to make a comeback.
Attempts to reach out to Marwah and Sisodia did not elicit a response.
The Congress has fielded Farhad Suri, former mayor of Delhi, long-time municipal councillor from Nizamuddin, and a veteran leader. Suri’s work, goodwill and long-time legacy in the area have earned him a loyal support base.
Though the Congress may not be in a winning position, the Muslim vote, which had switched to AAP over the last two assembly elections in the Capital, is now said to be going back significantly — at least in Jangpura.
Speaking to News18, Suri said he comes with a track record of honest work in the area. Also, he doesn’t consider Sisodia to be in the fray.
“If you ask me, my opponent is the BJP. I don’t see Sisodia in the fray. He has run away from his constituency, probably realising that the ground under him was weak in Patparganj. We will for sure reclaim our ground and results might surprise everyone,” he said.
The Congress leader, however, also alleged that they are not being allowed a level-playing field with both BJP and AAP having administrative forces behind them to rally support. “One of the candidates (BJP) is heavily backed by the central government while the other (AAP) controls Delhi government and MCD. The latter is getting Punjabis from outside living in the slums to gain support,” he alleged.
The changing dynamics
Marwah, formerly a three-time MLA (1998-2013) from the seat, switched to the BJP from Congress a few years ago and exercises immense political influence in the area. Hailing from the Sikh community, which comprises a sizeable section of the electorate along with Punjabis in the constituency, he is pushing hard to regain lost ground.
Jangpura has a mix of upper middle-class and lower-class segments, with Jatavs, Balmikis, Sainis and Dhobi (washermen) communities forming the other major part of the electorate besides Muslims.
It is these lower-class clusters that had so far voted heavily in favour of the AAP. Now, a visible rift can be seen, with many voters seemingly ready to give BJP’s Marwah another chance.
“Until last election, people here had voted largely for the AAP. But this time, it’s a bit different. The BJP is trying to make inroads here and slum-dwellers too seem to be drifting towards it,” said Jagdish Kumar, a resident of the Janata Camp.
Those living in the Pratap Camp area in Nehru Nagar, which houses four major Jhuggi-Jhopri clusters, said Marwah is like a family member who has been helping people even when he was not in power. He has now promised to do more if he wins this time.
“We gave AAP a chance and now we are ready to give Marwah a chance once again when he is finally in the fray,” said Rajni, 48.
The BJP candidate enjoys the reputation of a senior family member in this camp and attends their social and personal events like weddings and even deaths.
It’s not that AAP has not worked, said Rekha, an old-time resident of the camp. They did build a public toilet here and a Mohalla Clinic nearby which, by her own admission, is out of medicines for most part of the year.
“But our major problem is water supply and open drains in the area, which bring diseases. We have to buy bottled water for Rs 40 every day for drinking. This area needs pipelines, which is a major issue,” she said.
Behind her, one could see children playing by a large open drain, and pools of dirty water in the sewer holes.
Every day, for the last week or 10 days, a Bhandara (free food distribution) has been organised by the BJP candidate in the area. Also, Marwah has been a regular visitor while Sisodia has come here only once so far, she added.
Veerappan, an e-rickshaw driver from the Madrasi Camp built on railway land, said from his cluster, it’s a 50:50 for BJP-AAP. “We don’t ask anyone for amenities, we work on our own and get the basics,” he said, even as the women complained of sanitation issues with only two ladies’ public toilets that are not sufficient for the large cluster.
AAP’s Uphill Battle
The ground situation reveals that it’s going to be particularly hard for Sisodia to land a comfortable win from here this time, mainly because of the anti-incumbency of the sitting MLA from the seat as well as his not being a local in the area.
Residents in the area also complained about Praveen Kumar, who is the sitting MLA from the constituency, not working as expected by the AAP.
Kumar won the seat twice in 2015 and again in 2020 by a comfortable margin. This year, he was replaced with Sisodia, who Kejriwal recently announced would be the deputy CM face of the party.
“Kumar won the election last time only because of the party and not due to his own standing. It was only because people believe in Kejriwal’s welfare politics that he won. He didn’t even listen to residents’ problems,” said Rajan Gupta, a grocery store owner.
Another resident, not wishing to be named, said, “Sisodia may have to pay for Kumar’s half-hearted work in the constituency.”
Meanwhile, another candidate Rakesh Sagar, a former AAP member, is contesting from the seat as an Independent with the support of Chandra Shekhar Azad, a Dalit leader and MP known for his Bhim Army.
Blue-coloured pamphlets, the colour of the party’s flag, were hanging at several places across Jangpura, including in Bhogal market.
“I was with the AAP since the time of Anna Hazare’s Andolan. But it has changed its ideals over the years. The party supported Praveen Kumar, even though he did not work in his first term as MLA, over people who have served in the area. It had become important to contest from the seat to send them a message,” said Sagar, who is also general secretary of the Bhogal market association and has been an original resident of the area.
“Jangpura is like my family. I don’t campaign much, but just go door-to-door,” he said.
Asked if his candidature would cut into AAP’s vote base, he said: “Azad-ji (referring to Chandra Shekhar Azad) plans to hold a rally here on January 30. We will cut into AAP’s votes for sure, which is anyway being divided with the Congress’s this time,” he said.
