The Rajinder Nagar bypoll is on June 23. (Express Photo by Abhinav Saha)With two weeks to go for the Rajinder Nagar bypoll, the BJP has declared names of 40 ‘star campaigners’, including union ministers Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani, Narender Singh Tomar, Bhupender Yadav and Nityananad Rai, who would hit the ground. The list also includes senior leaders Radha Mohan Singh and Arjun Ram Meghwal.
The seat fell vacant after area MLA Raghav Chadha was elevated to Rajya Sabha. The AAP has fielded MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak as its candidate while the BJP announced former councillor Rajesh Bhatia (57) as its pick. The Congress fielded its former councillor, Prem Lata.
A senior BJP leader said: “Senior leaders will hold jan sabhas while others will go door to door and organise nukkad sabhas. However, it is not possible that all 40 will come to the constituency.”
Delhi BJP general secretary Harsh Malhotra said initial sentiments from the ground suggest that people are angry over the issue of water. Bhatia added that people have seen the misrule of the AAP government and how despite being in power, they have not been able to solve basic issues like water.
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The AAP, on the other hand, is campaigning with the message that if there are any issues, the solution too lies with them. A senior AAP leader said, “The BJP is inflating the issue; it is not that there is no water… In some areas at the tail end of the supply chain, like one or two blocks in Naraina village, there might be problems.”
“Pipelines are being laid… The people of Rajinder Nagar know that if they chose the party in power, the flow of development will continue,” he added.
Pathak said people of Delhi have firm belief in CM Arvind Kejriwal’s vision.
The Rajinder Nagar constituency has three dominant villages, Dasgarha, Todapur and Naraina, while New Rajinder Nagar and Old Rajinder Nagar are among the urban areas. The water problem is mostly in the villages while residents of urban areas complain of choked drains.
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