LS polls: Muslims to play key role in Delhi's Chandni Chowk

In the demographically colourful and historically significant Chandni Chowk constituency, a blockbuster contest is in the offing among Congress' Kapil Sibal, BJP's Harsh Vardhan and AAP's journalist-turned- politician Ashutosh to win the prestigious seat.

Though traditionally a Congress stronghold- the constituency is expected to witness division of Muslim votes between AAP and Congress that may help Vardhan, who was chief ministerial candidate of the party in the December assembly polls.

With a significant 20 per cent Muslim voters out of total of 14 lakh electorate, all the three candidates are going out of the way to woo them though they deny seeking votes in the name of religion, caste and community.

Though the fights were limited to Congress and BJP in the past elections, the entry of AAP in the fray has changed the equation dramatically as the party is trying to woo the Muslims and Vaish community, which also has a significant presence in the constituency.

By fielding senior leader Vardhan, known for his clean image, the saffron party is making all efforts to wrest the constituency from Congress. Harping on Narendra Modi's development agenda, the Delhi BJP chief says he is confident of the party's victory not only in Chandni Chowk but also in all the seven Lok Sabha seats.

"There has been a Modi wave across the country. BJP will come to power and people here will also make us victorious," says Vardhan, surrounded by a melee of supporters.

Union minister Sibal had won the last two elections from the constituency primarily due to support of Muslim community. In 2009 polls, he had defeated BJP's Vijender Gupta by a huge margin of two lakh votes.

Following the de-limitation exercise in 2008, the demography of the constituency has undergone major changes. While the Muslim population in the seat has come down to around 20 per cent from over 30 per cent, the percentage of Scheduled Castes and OBCs have have gone up to around 25 per cent and 20 per cent respectively.

The Vaish community accounts for around 15 per cent of the population.