Upper hand for BJP in Delhi; AAP fighting a survival battle

Except for Chandni Chowk, the seat of Kapil Sibal, New Delhi seat of Ajay Maken and East Delhi seat of Sandeep Dikshit, where the Congress is in a fight, all the other seats are likely to go either to the BJP or to AAP

Ajay Maken is seeking to score a hat-trick at a time when there is an anti-Cong wave. For canvassing, he is relying mostly on his past shows of being a Sports Minister, when India romped home with a handsome Oly medals

New Delhi: The mood of people all over the country, which is against bringing back the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre, is reflected in the Capital, as well, where the polls are slated for Thursday.

In 2009 Congress had swept all the seven seats, is now fighting hard to retain its hold in the Capital.

Congress also lost power in the Delhi Assembly elections. In the seven constituencies of Delhi, where the campaign concluded on Tuesday evening there is a near sweep for the BJP, with AAP reduced to irrelevance.

Except for Chandni Chowk, the seat of Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal, New Delhi seat of Ajay Maken and East Delhi seat of Sandeep Dikshit, son of former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit, where the Congress is in a fight, all the other seats are likely to go either to the BJP or to AAP.

Kapil Sibal is contesting against former Delhi Chief Ministerial candidate Harsh Vardhan and former journalist Ashutosh. Here, the fight is between Sibal and Harsh Vardhan and it would be no surprise if the latter emerges victorious, given his clean image.

The constituency is the bastion of Vijay Goel, who this time, has been sidelined to make way for Harsh Vardhan. Interestingly, seeing the Modi wave, even Harsh Vardhan is seeking votes in favour of Modi.

The constituency of New Delhi is seen as the mother of all battles. It is the most prestigious constituency of Delhi, where people like Atal Behari Vajpayee, L K Advani, Rajesh Khanna, Sucheta Kriplani and former Jan Sangh President Balraj Madhok had represented the seat in the past.

Ajay Maken is seeking to score a hat-trick at a time when there is an anti-Congress wave. For canvassing, he is relying mostly on his past performance of being a Sports Minister, when India romped home with a handsome tally of medals.

BJP has fielded Meenkashi Lekhi. From AAP, former Tehelka journalist Ashish Khetan is contesting, who is a novice as compared to the two candidates of the Congress and the BJP.

Congress Spokesperson Sandeep Dikshit is keen to retain a foothold in Delhi politics by retaining his seat of East Delhi constituency. Fighting against him is AAP heavyweight Rajmohan Gandhi. BJP candidate Maheish Girri, who belongs to the Art of Living of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, has a good and honest image like Rajmohan. In the constituency of North-West Delhi, Union Women & Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath is facing a difficult time against BJP candidate Udit Raj and former Delhi Minister and AAP candidate Rakhi Birla.

In the North-East Delhi constituency, migrants hold the key. BJP has fielded Bhojpuri superstar Manoj Tiwary against the Congress heavyweight Jai Prakash Aggarwal, sitting MP. AAP has picked Varanasi-born Prof Anand Kumar for the same seat. The BJP is relying on the high concentration of migrants from Bihar and UP in the area. While Tiwary's star appeal could work in his favour, what is a cause of worry for him and his party is the fact that North-East Delhi is home to Muslim vote-bank of 27 per cent - highest among all seven Delhi constituencies - who usually tilt towards Congress.

In West Delhi, where there is substantial Sikh population, AAP has fielded former journalist Jarnail Singh, who had hurled a shoe at the then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in 2009 at a press conference, objecting to the clean-chit given to the Congress leaders linked to the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Ironically, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, is facing the same plight in Delhi, where he is being attacked repeatedly by common people.

"Will he give ticket to all these persons now?" ask the people, who are against rewarding uncouth elements.

Pitted against Jarnail Singh is BJP candidate Pravesh Verma, son of former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma. He is banking on the Jat votes, the other dominant community in the area. Mahabal Mishra (Cong), who is himself a migrant from UP, is banking on the sizeable population of migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

In the posh constituency of South Delhi, Ramesh Bidhuri is the BJP candidate, while the Congress has fielded Ramesh Kumar, brother of Sajjan Kumar, who is linked to the anti-Sikh riots and denied the ticket. Caste plays a major role here. While Ramesh Bidhuri is a Gujjar, Ramesh Kumar is a Jat, the community that was given reservation under OBC category. The fight here is between the BJP and the Congress candidate, while AAP nominee Col (Retd) Devinder Sehrawat, is relatively a lightweight.

More than the caste-war, it is the Modi Wave that will pave the way for Ramesh Bidhuri to wrest the seat from the Congress. He is already on air, seeking votes in the name of Modi, while not uttering a word about his performance as an MLA from here.