Delhi bypolls: Kejriwal, local vs outsider theme dominate polling day
India Today
The Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituency recorded a voter turnout of 43.71 in the bypolls on Thursday, as per the Election Commission.
Rajinder Nagar Assembly bypoll witnessed a low voter turnout and the local vs outsider theme dominated the talks on Thursday. While a section of voters vouched for the Kejriwal factor and the work done by the AAP government, many spoke about how the incumbent party had fielded "an outsider" in the electoral fray.
Vijay Kumar is a resident of Delhi's Inderpuri area. He is a tailor by profession. Garv Se Kaaho Hum Hindu Hain (Say proudly, I am Hindu) read the stickers put on the entrance of his home.
"Someone might have pasted these stickers on my home. And I proudly say I am a Hindu. But that doesn't make me a BJP voter. You should have seen the kind of grand welcome we gave to CM Kejriwal while he was campaigning for the AAP candidate here. We support him and his party because of the work done in schools and mohalla clinic. I recently got my multiple medical tests done through mohalla clinics for free. What else would an Aam Aadmi need?" Kumar said. His wife Savitri, an Agaanwadi helper, too backed these claims.
"What is the need for a change when they [AAP] are delivering on several fronts? Kejriwal is the one getting aam aadmi's work done. Why change him? There are some issues with water supply, but we believe that it will be sorted by an AAP MLA," others waiting outside Kumar's shop claimed.
Inderpuri comes under Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituency that went to polls today. The neighbourhoods infront of the Inderpuri Police Station are densely populated and have a large chunk of voters who belong to the lower middle class.
A few kilometres from here are the posh neighbourhoods of Old Rajinder Nagar. Tilak Raj, a 71-year-old retired teacher, was waiting outside the polling station. For him, the Rajinder Nagar Assembly bypoll was about only two things -- the water crisis and the local vs outsider narrative.
"Many residents like me have been facing water crisis for months now. Raghav (Chadha) was a local boy and local MLA who also ran the show at Delhi Jal Board. And despite this, the residents of Old Rajinder Nagar get contaminated and muddy water through the piped water lines. Now Raghav has left us. The BJP has fielded Rajesh Bhatia who is known face, a local candidate and has delivered as municipal councillor in the past. While AAP's Durgesh is an outsider," Raj told India Today.
