New Delhi

Changed party affiliations add twist to contest DELhi ASSembly ELections 2008

Ramvir Singh Bidhuri

NEW DELHI: Whether things have changed in the Badarpur Assembly seat or not in the past five years remains a hot topic for debate, but the party affiliations of two strong local Gujjar leaders have most certainly changed during that time.

Sitting MLA from Badarpur, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, had won the polls in 2003 from the Nationalist Congress Party. He is seeking another mandate from the area, but this time on a Congress ticket. At the same time, former MLA Ram Singh Netaji, who had last time fought from the Congress, rebelled after his party preferred Mr. Bidhuri over him. He is now the Bahujan Samaj Party’s candidate from the area.

Many feel the real contest could perhaps be between these two, while the Bharatiya Janata Party’s contestant, Khem Chand, is hopeful that the BSP’s “damage to the Congress vote base” would guarantee his victory.

In this battle of the three Gujjars, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri claims he has everything going for him.

“Our main plank is development and my work in the area. We have given provisional certificates to those living in the unauthorised colonies, paving the way for regularisation. The Lal Dora Abaadi (population) Area has been extended too and that has benefitted those living in the peripheries of the villages. I have built cemented roads, the entire constituency has been electrified and there are streetlights everywhere. We have also got the Metro rail to our area,” said Mr. Bidhuri.

The sitting MLA is clear on his agenda for the next term, provided he wins. A college, a power grid, sewer lines and a flyover at the congested Meethapur Chowk are some of his main priorities.

Badarpur segment has about 18 per cent Gujjar and Brahmin population each, and has a sizeable Muslim populace too (15 per cent).

Mr. Bidhuri denied there was any anti-incumbency factor against him or his party that ruled the State for 10 years. “The impact of the policies of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit has been very positive. The Congress has approved the Sixth Pay Commission that has been welcomed by all the Government employees. People are also happy because of the Indo-US nuclear deal, not to forget, the big decision to waive off farmers’ loans. All this will work in my favour,” he claimed.

On the contrary, Mr. Ram Singh asserted that the local Congress party workers were rooting for him and not Mr. Bidhuri and with BJP fielding a “fresh candidate”, he was sure to win. “In residential areas like Om Nagar, Saurabh Vihar, Shakti Vihar, roads have been constructed at a level much higher than normal, and so the houses have gone lower in the ground. Every time it rains, water enters people’s homes since there is no proper drainage. Residents are also getting ration cards with great difficulty,” he charged.

BJP’s Khem Chand hits out at Mr. Bidhuri for constructing “poor quality roads” and for allowing a landfill site to come up at Tajpur Pahari.

“The site is right in the midst of thickly-populated residential areas. It will be of great inconvenience to the people living there and make the surroundings very unhygienic. Apart from this, inflation and fast-running electricity meters have impacted the lower middle class families a lot,” he added. Apart from the routine padyatras and public meetings, the BJP candidate is also showing voters a short film on the “flipside of the landfill site and the bad quality roads in the area”. Interestingly, none of the three candidates feel the delimitation process has in any way marred their chances.

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