NEW DELHI: The Mehrauli constituency, known for historical monument Qutub Minar, is largely impressed by the development work carried out by the ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s, especially related to the water supply and several parts of the constituency.
From 1993 to 2003, the segment which covers half of Saket, Mehrauli, Kishan Garh and Vasant Kunj localities, was a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bastion under former MLA Braham Singh Tanvar, a Gujjar by caste.
In 2003, the constituency was taken over by the Congress for another six years following which the BJP’s Pravesh Sahib Singh reinstated the BJP in the segment in 2013. Now, Naresh Yadav, who is also a Gujjar has been representing the AAP since 2015.
Focusing his work on the lower-income groups, Yadav is popular in the interiors of the constituency. “All the problems in our area have been solved by Arvind Kejriwal. Our MLA has given water connections to 500 houses. None of the MLAs who we voted for in the past gave us this facility. I am able to save around Rs 80,000 that I used to pay water tankers earlier,” Sunil Middha told The Morning Standard.
Middha, who called himself a “hardcore BJP supporter”, said that he will now vote for the AAP.
Similarly, Manish Kumar Chowdhary, a shopkeeper in ward number 8, credited Yadav for “improving” sanitation and installing CCTV cameras in the area. Confident of the work carried out so far, the residents said they have faith that other issues will be solved if AAP comes to power again.
“We still have bumpy roads and some open sewers but our MLA has worked in the area. He has been visible and has addressed all issues. We are sure, the pending issues would be taken care of in his next term,” Chowdhary added. While the interiors of the constituency are dominated by the Gujjar community, the posh Vasant Kunj has a mixed population, housing government employees and including many non-residents of Delhi.
The AAP MLA’s work has failed to make a mark in this area. Rajeev Gupta, a retired resident of Vasant Kunj Sector D expressed disappointment at the lack of development. However, he admitted that the AAP candidate has been more engaged in work as compared to his predecessors.
“I have been living here for 32 years and now I have decided to move out because of the constant waterlogging. Every time it rains, the water enters our houses. I do not remember a time when the trees in the area were pruned. This is considered to be an upmarket colony but we are still facing such rudimentary issues,” Gupta added.
As many as 1,13,366 are expected to exercise their voting rights from the Mehrauli constituency in the upcoming Assembly elections on February 8.