In a high-profile Lok Sabha seat like New Delhi, local issues often do not figure high on the priority list of voters. However, the 2024 Lok Sabha elections may change the trend, with locals keen on representatives bringing up critical issues like unemployment and problems affecting the middle class.
News18 visited various areas in the constituency and spoke to residents, first-time voters, college students, lawyers and shopkeepers, all of whom put forward diverse opinions.
For 29-year-old shopkeeper Nishit, no matter which party comes to power, neither will significantly change the situation on the ground. Echoing his sentiment was another shopkeeper from Connaught Place who said for people who work and live in the area controlled by the New Delhi Municipal Council, there is hardly any issue.
“We don’t suffer from lack of water or electricity… we don’t see anything the elected representative can do better,” said 39-year-old Sujarat.
The youth has demands
But young students, particularly first-time voters, have some wishes. Ishika Jain and Aarshi Dhingra, first-year students at Mata Sundri College for Women – a constituent college of the University of Delhi – feel that sanitation and hygiene are issues that need to be worked upon.
“Despite it being a college for girls, there is no medical room and sanitation facilities are poor. Additionally, cleaning of major garbage dumps and sewage drains needs to be addressed throughout the city,” they said.
Another first-time voter, Arushi, said unemployment and higher education are essential issues that need to be addressed. “As students, the most pressing issue that needs to be addressed for us is unemployment. Additionally, scarcity of seats in higher education colleges in India leads to issues for young adults,” she said.
Anita Sharma, the mother of a young woman preparing for MBA, also believes the same. She said there are not enough government colleges, and the tuition fee for a private college is out of discussion for a middle-class household.
“The country is developing domestically and internationally, but no government is addressing any of the problems of the middle class, which needs to be rectified fast,” she said, adding that the cost of living in the city is so high that it is difficult for middle-class people to survive.
There is no other alternative for the people other than the BJP, which offers a stable government, she said.
For Supreet, a first-time voter who commutes to the New Delhi area for college, it is public transport. She wants buses to be on time and frequent. “Additionally, they are too crowded and the number of buses keeps reducing, making the issue worse,” she said.
Strong feelings about Kejriwal’s arrest
There is also a strong feeling among people about the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal around election time. Many believe it is unconstitutional and even non-AAP supporters feel it should not have happened.
For first-time voter Pratyaksh, a student of Lady Irwin College, the “freebies” by the Kejriwal-led AAP government are “petty politics that is merely an electoral stunt”. However, she opposed the idea of his arrest, saying “it has been done to gain political margin”.
For 34-year-old Santosh Yadav and Arvind Yadav, who is in his early 40s, a strong opposition is a critical part of a democracy. “You cannot have a democracy if there is no opposition. It is not about any party, the act of arresting a chief minister of a rival party is fundamentally wrong,” said the duo that runs a small shop in Sarojini Nagar.
Similar sentiments were shared by 48-year-old Prabha Singh, who is a local resident. She said a democracy needs at least two parties with one strong opposition to be able to question the current government.
“A major issue the country is facing today is the lack of a strong opposition to keep the government’s powers in check. Kejriwal’s arrest is destroying the opposition and, in turn, democracy,” she said.
Suresh, a practising lawyer in his early 50s, also questioned Keriwal’s arrest. “Ideally, you are innocent until proven guilty but in the case of Kejriwal’s arrest, it is the other way around. Is he the only corrupt leader in India who has a position in the government? And how do we even know if he is guilty without any proof being released?” he asked.
He also stressed that the voters should elect only educated people, who have a vision for development, and also focus on education and employment as a means for the country’s growth. He said there is a need for a well-educated Lok Sabha and government that believes in preserving the country’s democracy.
Sunil Kumar Sharma, 63, is an auto-rickshaw driver. He not only questioned Kejriwal’s arrest but also said the Union government should bring in schemes for the public like the AAP convener did. He said the Mohalla Clinic initiative had helped him a lot.
“It really benefited the general public, making it very convenient and affordable for the masses. I personally used it multiple times for health check-ups,” he said, adding that there should be a similar central scheme.
‘BJP gave us everything we need’
‘Aayega toh Modi hi’ – this was also a refrain among a number of people, who are happy with the prime minister’s 10-year stint.
For Vijay, who runs a tea shop near Lady Hardinge Medical College for the past 25 years, there cannot be anyone better than Modi. “We cannot expect anything more from a government. The BJP gave us everything we needed,” he said.
For 40-year-old Nitin Sharma, who has his residence and office in the New Delhi area, there is no alternative. “There is no one we can vote for other than the BJP. There is no other strong leader in the country,” he said.
The seat and its history
Established in 1951, New Delhi is the oldest Delhi constituency of the city. Of 17 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and Congress have won seven times each.
Among well-known leaders elected from the seat were Atal Bihari Vajyapee, Lal Krishna Advani, Mehr Chand Khanna, Ajay Maken and the city’s first female MP, Sucheta Kripalani. Even actor Rajesh Khanna has represented the seat.
Before the entry of the AAP, the Congress and BJP ruled the seat. But after 2014, the AAP has been taking up a good share of votes even though it has not been elected in the Lok Sabha from this seat or anywhere else in the city.
This time, however, the AAP and Congress have joined hands against the BJP with the former fighting the New Delhi seat. In 2014 and 2019, the BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi won the seat. A lawyer by profession, she was dropped this time and the seat will see a contest between two other lawyers – BJP’s Bansuri Swaraj and AAP’s Somnath Bharti.
Bansuri, a lawyer for 16 years, is the daughter of former Union minister, the late Sushma Swaraj, and is making her political debut. Bharti, meanwhile, has been an MLA from Malviya Nagar since 2013. The 49-year-old is a practicing lawyer at the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court.
Delhi will vote on May 25 with all the seven constituencies going to polls in a single phase.
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