NEW DELHI: In a run-up to the 8 February Delhi Assembly elections, voters, especially in the unauthorised colonies, are witnessing promises and freebies being doled out by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party. While the BJP has promised regularisation of 1,731 unauthorised colonies, AAP has already started launching attractive schemes for Delhiites.
Recently, Baljeet Nagar, one of the 1,731 unauthorised colonies in Delhi, was regularised by the BJP-led Central government. The residents here voiced their happiness of finally being able to call their homes their own.
Rajesh, a shop owner, told The Sunday Guardian: “We are extremely happy that the BJP will regularise our colonies and this time around, we are sure that we will get our registration certificates. Many people are very happy as now this area will get distributed into blocks and people can get loans on their houses.”
Even Sushila, a homemaker and owner of three houses in Rajasthan colony, which is about one-and-a-half km from Baljeet Nagar, was ecstatic about the BJP’s decision to regularise their colony. She said: “This is a very good decision of the BJP. I am very happy and I will definitely vote for the BJP. Now, we don’t have to live in fear that our houses may be demolished anytime.”
However, while walking down the dark, muddy lanes of this colony, an old lady in her early eighties talked enthusiastically about the AAP-led Delhi government’s Tirath Yatra scheme. She told The Sunday Guardian: “Kejriwalji is providing free of cost Tirath Yatra for old ladies. Which government till date has thought that much about us? He thinks for the poor people, then why should we not think about him?”
Meanwhile, some people complained against the local sitting AAP MLA, Hazarilal Chauhan, who never visited their colony in the past five years.
From poor sewage system to broken roads, the colony has numerous problems that have not been resolved till date. However, when it comes to voting, the residents have a different opinion. Mahesh, a local shopkeeper, said: “Kejriwal has done what he could in the last five years. If we elect him again, he will do the rest of the work.”
Recently, in order to curb anti-incumbency against its sitting MLAs, the AAP denied them tickets. The AAP changed its candidate from Patel Nagar constituency and fielded Raj Kumar Anand as the MLA candidate. A total of 15 sitting AAP MLAs have been dropped from the list of candidates for the upcoming polls.
There are few takers for the BJP’s regularisation plank as people are skeptical about the party’s promises. Rocky, a local shopkeeper in Baljeet Nagar, told The Sunday Guardian: “There is no clarity about the circle rate of our colony. How can we trust them? They might follow the path of Sheila Dikshit.”
In 2008, the Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government had issued provisional regularisation certificates to over 1,218 unauthorised colonies before Assembly elections. Later, these provisional regularisation certificates turned out to be fake. Sushila, a resident of the Rajasthan colony, said: “Whether or not the BJP regularises our colony, we will vote for the jhaadu (AAP) only. I don’t want a flat. I want free electricity and water and this is what Kejriwal has done.”
The areas of Rajasthan colony and Prem Nagar, both of which were part of the recently regularised colonies by the BJP led-Central government, are in a poor condition with a dumping ground nearly 200 meters away from the residential area. Here, the residents still rely on water tankers that come every four days.
However, many residents told The Sunday Guardian that work on water pipelines and sewer system has already started and they are hopeful that in the next five years, their colony will be like other colonies in Delhi.
Kamla Devi, another resident of Rajasthan colony, said: “The first few years Kejriwal was not being allowed to work. Since he came to power, he has started work on water lines. Some part of this colony has now a sewer system. In the next five years, everything will be done by AAP.”
Delhi’s unauthorised colonies constitute a huge vote bank and dominate around 31 out of 70 Assembly seats in the national capital. By legalising these 1,731 illegal colonies in the capital, the BJP is banking on people of these unauthorised colonies to expand its vote share for the upcoming polls.