Delhi heads towards new bypoll battle

SHOWDOWN AHEAD AS AAP TELLS LEADERS TO BRACE FOR BALLOT, POLITICAL EXPERTS SAY RULING PARTY HAS SLIGHT EDGE

NEW DELHI: Unless the high court stays Sunday’s government notification disqualifying 20 lawmakers from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Delhi stares at another round of bypolls in six months.

The seats under spotlight are largely considered AAP strongholds where its leaders won by margins ranging from 1,500 (Najafgarh) and 67,900 (Burari) in 2015. However, the contest is still likely to be interesting as it would provide another opportunity for BJP and Congress to test waters in Delhi months ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Besides, AAP also faces the threat of some dissidents in the party.

“There have been efforts to break the party earlier as well. Now with the disqualification, the threat becomes even more eminent,” said a party leader who did not wish to be named due to the sensitive nature of the topic.

The seats that stand vacated include Dwarka, Chandni Chowk, Najafgarh, Jangpura, Rajender Nagar, Janakpuri, Wazirpur, Gandhi Nagar, Kalkaji, Laxmi Nagar and Mehrauli.

The seats comprise diverse electorates ranging from Narela, which is largely a hub of slum clusters unauthorised colonies and villages, to middle class pockets in west Delhi like Janakpuri, Tilak Nagar and Rajinder Nagar. Also tested would be the AAP’s appeal with a large chunk of Muslim voters in Chandni Chowk.

“Janakpuri, Tilak Nagar, Jangpura and Rajinder Nagar are areas dominated by Punjabis and refugees which form a major part of AAP’s vote bank.

These seats would be the most sought after for other parties if the elections take place,” said a party leader.

He said party chief, Arvind Kejriwal, during a meeting with the now-disqualified MLAs on Saturday, had asked them to get ready for a fresh fight to defeat the BJP and the Congress.

In April 2017, in the Rajouri Garden bypoll, another Punjabi stronghold, SAD’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa won on a BJP ticket to beat AAP’s Harjeet Singh.

“We have been preparing for these elections since the office of the profit issue was raised in 2015,” said party spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj.