AAP, Congress voters in MCD battle in Delhi’s minority-dominated areas

TANMAs the MCD election is around the corner, the vote share between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress is now divided as the Muslim population is baffled about selecting the right candidate, after the delimitation procedure. Areas such as Jaffrabad and Chauhan Bangar are now under the same ward and residents in the Muslim-dominated areas are waiting for the list of candidates to be released.
Jaffrabad, a northeast region in Delhi, is widely dominated by the Muslim population and supports AAP, whereas, Chauhan Bangar residents are Congress supporters. Talking to The Sunday Guardian, a resident of ward 227 of Chauhan Bangar, said, “We are happy with the Congress. The only problem we face is the lack of water supply, otherwise, all is fine.” The open drain and small crowded lanes of both regions have never been much concern for the residents of the people. However, when this correspondent visited Jaffrabad, she was told that the Muslim-dominated residents support AAP.
But now, after delimitation, both regions (Jaffrabad and Chauhan Bangar) come under the ward, and this has created a conflict in the minds of the voters about whom to vote for. Now, the residents are entirely dependent on the list to be released by the parties. A resident of ward 40E, Jaffrabad, told this paper that the area of Jaffrabad constitutes only 50 galis, while Chauhan Banger is much larger and extends from Seemapuri Puliya to Kalyan Cinema. As both areas are now under one ward, the result will be an interesting turn of events for either side. Meanwhile, the residents of Chauhan Bangar complained of irregular garbage collection, but they haven’t lost their hopes in Congress. INC candidate, Chauhan Zubair Ahmad, won the Chauhan Bangar ward in the MCD by-election by defeating AAP candidate Mohammad Ishraq Khan.
Mustafabad, a widely Muslim-dominated region (78.05%), is hopeful with AAP; however, this correspondent also found a few Congress supporters in this region. In 2017, AAP candidate, Shakila Begum, had won Mustafad. A few aren’t happy with her work and are expected to vote for Congress this time. Mohammad Firoz, a resident, told this paper, “The garbage truck is irregular and comes between 15-30 days.” Asked why people are unhappy with AAP, the residents complained of water shortage and electricity problems. They claimed that AAP MLA Haji Yunus does not respond to their problems and so some voters have lost their faith in the party. This paper also tried to contact the MLA, but the calls went unanswered till the time this article went to press. However, Babu Nagar, the region that falls under Old Mustafabad, has a mixed population of Hindus and Muslims, but the majority of the residents are AAP supporters.
This correspondent also visited Karawal Nagar, widely dominated by Hindus (88.88%). The residents were not happy with the BJP-ruled MCD, but support for the party was due to core Hindutva and PM Narendra Modi. In 2017, BJP candidates—Puneet Sharma and Satya Pal Singh—won Karawal Nagar east and Karawal Nagar west. The residents complained of open clogged drains, and broken roads, but they would vote for BJP rather than AAP in the name of PM Narendra Modi.
“We vote for BJP because we believe in Hindutva. We don’t have much expectation from AAP, but we do have high hopes from PM Narendra Modi,” a resident of ward 248 of Karawal Nagar gaon told this paper.