Govt staffers form a large chunk here

Will murmurs of discontent among government employees against the NDA government drown the hopes of sitting BJP MLA Anil Sharma?

Will Jats turn their faces against AAP’s Pramila Tokas, a community member and the second richest candidate in Delhi Assembly polls? Is Congress’ Liladhar Bhatt fighting a losing battle?

Rama Krishna Puram or RK Puram, named after Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, is keeping the suspense on.

Voters, numbering 1.57 lakh, keep their cards close to their chest as they probe into the intent of the candidates. They have their grievances, complaints and list of broken promises.

Elders say conquering the heart of RK Puram is a difficult task as it has an enigmatic mix of voters ranging from government employees to Jats to students to slum dwellers.

All eyes are on how government employees, who form a large chunk of voters, will vote on February 7 when Delhi goes to Assembly polls — 13 months after the previous one. Months ago, they were ecstatic about Modi but nine months later, they appear not to share the same enthusiasm.

“Where is the change? Prices are still on the rise. There were promises. What happened to them? We will weigh our options and we are not averse to vote for AAP,” says a middle-aged employee in Vasant Vihar.

Though his colleague is not so open, he also echoes the disenchantment with the Centre, saying the government is not sympathetic to them and cites the biometric attendance system as a tool to target them.

He may not acknowledge it but Sharma is aware of the discontent. For Sharma, a youth leader, knows that the battle is tough, as he had learnt it the hard way in 2013 polls when he scraped through defeating his rival Shazia Ilmi, then in AAP and now his party colleague, by a meagre margin of 326 votes.

So Sharma is not taking any chances. Senior BJP ministers and leaders are engaging with leaders of employees unions to assuage their feelings while leaders like Smriti Irani and Navjyot Singh Sidhu have campaigned for this former Delhi Yuva Morcha president.

Sharma’s woes do not end there as AAP’s Tokas could mar his chances in Jat-dominated villages. There are several such villages in this constituency and BJP workers feel Tokas could sway them to her side.

The constituency has tony areas like Anand Niketan, Vasant Kunj, South Moti Bagh, RBI Office Colony and villages like Munirka, Basant Gaon and Mohammedpur. The posh colonies, however, appear to support BJP.

While BJP believes that the government employees would finally rally behind them, they concede that AAP would garner slum dwellers and lower middle class votes. The posh colonies, however, appear to support BJP and want Kiran Bedi as Chief Minister.

For slum dwellers and lower middle-class voters, AAP brings hope. They believe an Arvind Kejriwal-led government would bring down power tariff and price rise.

“The vote is for the broom. We have several problems, like water scarcity. Only AAP stands for the poor,” said Sumita Devi of Basant Gaon.