Amanatullah gets cracking, holds his first meetings

The elected representative from Okhla already held his first round of informal meetings on Wednesday with civic agencies to deliver on “AAP promises” promptly.

A day after Amanatullah Khan defeated BJP’s Brahm Singh by a margin of 64,532 votes, the MLA said there was no time that the party can waste now. The Okhla seat drew controversy after BJP ticket aspirant Dhir Singh Bidhuri quit the party over being denied a ticket from this constituency.

Even though celebrations and thanking party workers is going on alongside, Khan said his “hands are full with unfinished work”.

“I held meetings with Delhi Jal Board and Municipal Corporation of Delhi to start work on water lines as soon as possible,” the MLA said. The earlier MLA from the seat, Asif Mohammad Khan, had won the seat in 2013 on a Congress ticket and in 2008, on a Rashtriya Janata Dal ticket.

The two-time MLA is in the third position this time and has bagged 20,135 in the constituency. He had run into controversy after Rs 2.8 crore was reportedly spent on “beautifying” the boundary wall of a graveyard in the constituency.

AAP’s Khan had contested the 2013 elections from a Lok Jan Shakti Party ticket and lost. Asked what clicked for him this time, he said, “People have come out and voted for Kejriwal. I do not matter here.”

“The enormous amount spent on beautifying the boundary wall was quite unnecessary,”  he added.

Okhla constituency, which is Muslim dominated, covers Ali village, Madanpur Khadar, Shaheen Bagh, Jasola Village, Gaffar Manzil, Abul Fazal Enclave, Batla House, Zakir Nagar and Kalindi Colony, among other places.
The majority of the areas here lack proper sewer and water lines. Roads inside the JJ clusters are broken with no proper entry points. Poor water supply is another major issue.
“Water supply and giving all the localities sewer lines are on the priority. The work of water and sewer lines have been lying unfinished in these areas. The constituency houses areas in which there is a lack of basic amenities,” said Khan.
Work on building better roads was also high on the list, especially in the JJ clusters, he added.
There is also an immediate need to improve the sanitary conditions in Okhla with the majority of areas having unhygienic living conditions, he added.
“In almost all the areas , there is the common problem of insanitary conditions. This has to be corrected first,” he added.