Rajinder Nagar gears up for poll fight

Contenders from the BJP and AAP held road shows as they filed nomination papers for the bypoll. The seat fell vacant after Raghav Chadha was elected to RS

Alok K N Mishra

NEW DELHI: A total of 20 candidates have filed their nominations for the by-election to the Rajinder Nagar assembly constituency where polling will be held on June 23. Most of the nominations, including those by three main contenders from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, were filed on Monday -- the last day for filing nominations.

The seat fell vacant after sitting MLA Raghav Chadha of the AAP was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.

The AAP has fielded Durgesh Pathak, the party’s incharge for MCD affairs; the BJP has nominated former councillor Rajesh Bhatia; and the Congress has fielded Prem Lata, also a former councillor. Several independent candidates are also trying their luck besides some from smaller parties, such as 64-year-old Renu Verma who is from Bharat Lok Sewak Party.

According to the revised electoral rolls, the constituency has over 160,000 voters.

The result will be declared on June 26.

Monday was a busy day for the contenders with the AAP candidate organising a roadshow through major parts of the constituency, starting from Naraina Vihar gurdwara up to the returning officer’s office near Pusa Institute where he filed the nomination papers. At various places during the roadshow, the AAP candidate was felicitated by local residents.

The former legislator from

AAP 34 the seat, and now Rajya Sabha MP, Raghav Chadha, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and several AAP MLAS accompanied Pathak on the roadshow.

Pathak said that he was prepared to serve the people of the Rajinder Nagar.

“I am overjoyed to have filed my nomination for the Rajinder Nagar by-election. During the roadshow, the people of Rajinder Nagar showed their overwhelming support for me. Everyone was looking at us with a great deal of optimism in their eyes because they believe in the AAP. I will treating their prob

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lems as those of my own, and I will not them suffer,” Pathak said.

BJP candidate Rajesh Bhatia also organised a roadshow with Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi and Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta, several local party leaders, and supporters.

Bhatia was felicitated at several points by residents and party supporters. Gupta said that the crowd was a clear indicator of BJP’S resounding victory.

“It is a battle of local versus outsider. I am a local, and the AAP candidate is an outsider. People are angry that the person (Raghav Chadha) they elected in

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Affidavit not uploaded on CEO Delhi website till late evening

Class 7

2020 left them and have decided to vote for the BJP candidate who is a local and not an outsider. Even after ruling for a long time, the AAP government could not solve the water crisis in the area. People want change and are looking forward to the BJP,” said Bhatia.

The AAP dismissed the outsider remark, and said that the BJP was raking up a non-issue becaus it had has nothing to talk about.

The Congress’s Prem Lata was accompanied by local Congress leaders and workers on the way to the office of the returning officer.

Lata, a former councillor like

Bhatia, said the support from the local residents was “very encouraging”.

Delhi Congress chief Chaudhary Anil Kumar called Lata a grassroots worker and said that she was well aware of the problems being faced by the people in the constituency.

Lata claimed both the BJP and the AAP have neglected the area for the past eight years, and she has been working among the people to solve their problems. Lata is a resident of Dasghara, a village in the constituency.

The nomination papers will be scrutinised on June 7, and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is June 9.