As residents of Rajouri Garden came out to vote on Sunday, development issues were topmost on their minds.
“I believe everyone is voting for development. A lot of the promised work has not been done here by any of the previous MLAs. Therefore, we want to make the most of this opportunity to vote,” said J.S. Anand, who had come with his aged parents to cast their votes at the Government Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in F-Block.
In the posh colonies of Rajouri Garden, issues of parking and unauthorised encroachments are pertinent. In other parts such as Vishnu Garden and Khyala, which comprise unauthorised colonies and urban villages, the issues are broken roads, electricity and water.
‘Poor roads’
“The problem here is that the authorities make and remake roads, instead of the ones that actually need repairing. There is no proper supervision,” said Hari Shankar Gupta, a voter from Raghubir Nagar.
“The mindset of voters is still stuck on political parties. Delhiites never vote for candidates, they always vote for the party; that hinders development,” he added.
The mood over AAP MLA Jarnail Singh giving up his position here to contest elections in Punjab garnered mixed reactions among voters.
“Many of the people don’t know who they are voting for. The ones who do, stand divided. I had voted for Mr. Singh thinking he would work for the people and not run away after finding a better opportunity,” said Madhuri Singh, a resident of Tagore Garden.
‘ For the middle-class’
Fifty six-year-old Harsimran Singh, however, said he was satisfied with the work the AAP had done in the area.
“Never in so many years in Delhi has any party thought about the middle-class. Water bills have come to nil and electricity bills have sunk lower. For people like us, it is a huge change,” he said. Many also believed that the result of this election on April 13 would affect, even if marginally, how Delhi voted in the municipal polls on April 23.
