NEW DELHI: The Babarpur assembly constituency, located in the heart of north-east Delhi, is set for a triangular fight: a sitting MLA eyeing a hat-trick, a former municipal councillor and a candidate attempting to find his electoral feet.
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The constituency, with nearly 35% Muslim voters, was a BJP bastion until AAP dented it in 2015. BJP’s Naresh Gaur won the Babarpur seat in 1993 and 1998 but lost to Congress’ Vinay Sharma in 2003. However, Gaur was re-elected in 2008 and won a fourth term in 2013, defeating AAP senior Gopal Rai. But Rai turned the tables and won two consecutive terms from Babarpur in 2015 and 2020.
The constituency, with a diverse mix of communities, is home to people residing in Balbir Nagar, Chhajjupur, Harijan Basti, Indira Niketan, Janta Mazdoor Colony, Kabir Nagar, Kardam Puri, Maujpur, New Jafrabad, North Ghonda and Yamuna Vihar.
Rai now hopes to do at Babarpur what even four-time winner Gaur couldn’t — win a hat-trick from the seat. However, Rai, who is AAP’s Delhi convenor and was a minister in the past two govts, while confident of a victory, still faces challenges from both BJP and Congress.
BJP has nominated Anil Kumar Vashisht, a Brahmin who was a former councillor from 2002 to 2007. He is likely to be backed by the Brahmins, who are estimated to number around 19% in the constituency. He had contested assembly elections from Babarpur in 2008 but failed to secure a win.
The Congress candidate is Mohammad Ishraq Khan, a former MLA from north-east Delhi’s Seelampur. Khan contested the assembly elections in 2015 on an AAP ticket from Seelampur, but he was denied a ticket in 2020. This time, Congress has taken him into its ranks and fielded him from the neighbouring Babarpur seat. Both Rai and Khan are attempting to lure Muslim voters, who have a sizeable presence in the constituency.
Talking about his two consecutive terms, Rai said, “In the last decade, we repaired over 900 streets and upgraded infrastructure significantly. About 90% of our work is complete. We’ve installed CCTV cameras, fixed streetlights to reduce crime and set up mohalla clinics. A mini-hospital with multiple healthcare systems, an open banquet hall, a modern auditorium, and a mini-stadium have also been set up.” He claimed that AAP had delivered 10 times more development in Babarpur than what all the previous MLAs combined had done.
Vashisth contested the claim and alleged Rai did not focus on the development of the area while AAP govt failed to control air and Yamuna pollution. “One of the major headaches of Babarpur is traffic congestion,” the BJP candidate said. “Then, there is the overflowing drain number 52 that goes up to Mandoli Road via Babarpur Road. My priority will be to decongest the area, fix the drain and erect a 100-bed maternity home for people residing in JJ clusters.”
Khan also claimed that no work was done in the constituency in the past five years. “When I contested the elections from Seelampur, I made four promises to the people. On becoming an MLA, I not only fulfilled all my four promises but also completed 10 additional works in the constituency,” he asserted. The Congress contestant added that if he were elected from Babarpur, he would implement his Seelampur model to ensure the development of the constituency.