Congress Stands Tall in AAP Stronghold Seemapuri Assembly Seat
Congress candidate Rajesh Lilothia in Seemapuri Image credit X.com
Seemapuri Assembly Seat to Test Congress Faces from AAP, BJP
By Amit Kumar
New Delhi, January 27: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) wrested political turf from the Congress by sweeping the reserved Assembly constituencies in the national capital. In the fourth straight Assembly polls, the AAP stays ahead of rivals in the Seemapuri battleground.
Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal before launching his political outfit worked in the Dalit areas for his Right to Information Act (RTI) activism. When he launched his political party, the people in the Seemapuri Assembly seat shifted loyalty from the Congress to the AAP.
Seemapuri was once a stronghold of the Congress. The constituency has been voting for the AAP since 2013 Assembly elections.
But there is a twist in the tale in the Seemapuri Assembly constituency. The AAP has fielded former Congress MLA Veer Singh Dhingan here.
The AAP had previously accused Dhingan of conspiring to murder the AAP worker Santosh Koli. Koli was the face of Kejriwal’s India Against Corruption (IAC).
The Congress on the other hand has turned the heat on the AAP by fielding heavyweight Rajesh Lilothia. His logan of ‘Saanjh, Savere Aadhi Raat’, ‘Rajesh Lilothia Aapke Saath’ is reverberating in the constituency.
Lilothia’s main poll plank is women’s safety. The people are connecting with his poll plank amid largescale complaint of the people against rise in crimes against women in the constituency.
The AAP had promised in past elections to install CCTV cameras to check crimes. But the party is now passing the buck on the BJP-led Centre for rising incidents of crimes against women in the national capita.
The BJP has fielded former Congress councillor Rinku Kumari from the constituency. She is pitching her poll campaign on women-centric issues.
The Seemapuri Assembly Seat is dotted with dense colonies and slums. Nand Nagri, GTB Enclave, Sundar Nagri, Dilshad Colony, Dilshad Garden, Kheda Village, Jagatpuri Extension, GTB Hospital Campus, Janta Flat, and many more are prominent colonies in the constituency.
The AAP’s incumbent MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam is now with the Congress. The Congress threatens to upset the AAP here, says the locals.
But the BJP is also hopeful that a division in the vote base of Dalits and Muslims may help the party with a rare win. The rehabilitation colonies like Seemapuri, Sundar Nagari and Nand Nagari, as well as slums, complain of several civic issues, including traffic snarls.
“This is a border area with Uttar Pradesh, and there are a large number of illegal Bangladeshis. Crime incidents top the agenda of the people,” said Suraj Pasi, a resident of the constituency.
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