JOIN USBharatiya Janata Party’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi may have engaged people across the country in political debates over ‘chai’, but in the rural pockets of the capital dominated by Jat and Gujjar communities, these debates take place over hookah sessions.
And the debates range from speculation about which party would form the next government to the factors that influence voters.
A visit to some of the areas dominated by the two communities also reveals that caste could be a decisive factor in Delhi: residents there say they will prefer candidates from their own community.
The three main parties – Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and Aam Aadmi Party – have also kept these factors in mind while choosing candidates for the South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, predominantly a rural constituency with 17.2 lakh registered voters.
BJP fielded three-time MLA from Tughlakabad Ramesh Bidhuri, a Gujjar, while the AAP candidate Col (retd) Devinder Sehrawat is a Jat. Congress party’s Ramesh Kumar, the sitting MP, is also a Jat. Of the 364 villages in the capital, 225 are dominated by Jats while Gujjars are a majority in 70 villages.
With just days to go for polling, the three candidates have intensified their campaign and are concentrating on door-to-door meetings with voters. While accompanying BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri during his campaign in South Delhi’s Chhatarpur, dominated by Jats, Deccan Herald interacted with a group discussing politics while enjoying hookah. Seventy-two-year-old Surendra Gulia says that at the constituency level they would prefer a political leader from their community who will think about their youth, and at the national level they would support a dynamic politician who will work for the country’s development.
“The Modi government in Gujarat has developed Gujarat. People from other states are now going to Gujarat looking for jobs. We want his leadership to change the entire country,” he says.
Gulia’s friend Kashi Ram, 53, adds, “Kejriwal made promises for the common man and had the opportunity to be the next leader of the country, but he lost support and opportunity by resigning after 49 days.”
The debate hinted that the South Delhi constituency may be set for a straight fight between BJP and AAP, while the prospects of Congress are weak.
“Congress doesn’t have a leader in Rahul Gandhi. Price rise and charges of corruption also work against them. The common man is looking for change and a dynamic leader for development. Modi has been impressive and it seems BJP is almost set to form the next government,” Chaudhary Ratan Singh says.
During his campaign, BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri even accepted that he would be banking on the ‘Modi wave’ and his usual support base among Jats and Gujjars.
“The caste equation works for me. While Congress is written off, the AAP candidate is inexperienced. I enjoy a better connect with locals,” he says.
Congress party's Ramesh Kumar, billed the ‘worst performing MP’ for having spent only Rs 3.03 crore of the over Rs 10 crore allocated under MPLADS (MP Local Area Development Scheme), is facing anti-incumbency. But the Jat support is something that he can certainly rely on.
Another group in South Delhi’s Mahipalpur has pledged support to AAP and the party candidate Sehrawat. Mahabir Ahlawat, 59, says that despite the government’s decision of reservation for Jats, they have lost confidence in the ruling UPA and Congress. “The ruling government has ruined the country. We are struggling with price rise and youths are roaming around unemployed. The situation can’t be changed until we have a corruption-free government,” he says. “We need a leader like Kejriwal to be a youth icon and the prime minister, and a person like Sehrawat to be the MP,” he adds.
Jat voters could play a crucial part in at least eight Assembly segments – Mehrauli, Mundka, Rithala, Nangloi, Matiala, Najafgarh and Bijwasan. Gujjar support will be the key in Badarpur, Tughlakabad, Sangam Vihar, Gonda, Gokulpuri, Karawal Nagar and Okhla.
The South Delhi seat comprises 10 Assembly segments.
Of these, seven segments – Bijwasan, Palam, Mehrauli, Chhatarpur, Kalkaji, Tughlakabad and Badarpur – are held by the BJP. The rest, namely Deoli, Ambedkar Nagar and Sangam Vihar, are with AAP.
The BJP had held the South Delhi parliamentary seat from 1989 to 2009. It was also the seat from where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh lost his maiden Lok Sabha elections contest in 1999 to BJP’s Vijay Kumar Malhotra.