The Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) promises to install CCTVs and free WiFi in Delhi, have failed to cut ice with the residents of Chhatarpur Assembly constituency, which was formed in 2008.
Besides the swanky farmhouses and the posh South Delhi localities that surround the area, people in this constituency crave for better roads, sewerage, water and electricity supply and decongestion. Prior to 2008, it was part of the Mehrauli Assembly constituency. It comprises largely of rural populace and immigrants living in unauthorised colonies.
The Chhatarpur constituency comprises of Saidulajab, Neb Sarai, Maidan Garh, Rajpur Khurd, Fatehpur Beri, Jonapur, Sultan Pur, Ghitorni, Aya Nagar, Dera Village, Bhatti Mines, Mangla Puri, Satbari, Chandan Hulla, Shahurpur and Asola and there are about 1,24,073 eligible voters in this constituency. BJP, AAP and Congress has won this constituency one times each out of the three Delhi elections.
The Pioneer visited the Chhatarpur constituency and found the water logging and pathetic sewerage system plague certain pockets in there and the roads are also maze of uneven tarred stretches. Security for women is another major area of concern, according to residents.
The constituency also lacks infrastructure such as schools and colleges. The fight this time in the constituency is between Satish Lohia of the Congress, Brahm Singh Tanwar from the BJP and Kartar Singh of the AAP.
In 2008, Balram Tanwar was the first elected Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Chhatarpur. In 2013, he was defeated by the BJP's Brahm Singh Tanwar. In 2015 the seat came in basket of Kartar Singh of AAP. This time Congress has fielded Lohia, who will play key role in dividing and grabbing the vote bank of the BJP and AAP candidates.
"Here in Chhatarpur, there is a direct fight between BJP and AAP candidate. Both being local and from Gujjar community, the rural votes are divided as most of the villages in constituency are of Gujjars followed by Jats. The urban areas will play key role in candidate win," said Nathu Singh, former pradhan, Maidangarhi village in Chhatarpur area.
"There are developmental works going on and sewerage lines are being developed but the work started two month before the elections dates were announced. There are a lot of works to be done in constituency especially there is need to develop a sewerage system in the area. We hope the next MLA from our constituency will take it up on priority. There are several dark spots in the area and women safety is a big concern," said Rahul Singh, a proprietor in Chhatarpur enclave phase-II.
Majority of the Muslims living were cross with the AAP candidate and alleged that he did not even showed his face after winning 2015 election but they said that they will vote for AAP not any other party.
"Though Kartar Singh had not visited in our area but we will vote him as we expect he would bring some changes in constituency. We don't want BJP candidate to win as whenever he wins crime graph in this area increases," said a woman, who does not wished to be named and resident of Dhan Mill in the constituency.
"The roads are in bad condition here and there has been no development works in villages. Still there are several places in the area where water is stagnated and this stagnant water is inviting diseases. We believe to vote a candidate who promises to resolve our issues on a strict note," said Sangram Singh, a lawyer and resident of Chhatarpur.
"There are always long queues of traffic at traffic signal on 100 feet road in Chhatarpur. For last one decade not a single process has been initiated to ease traffic movement. This not the only place, the entire stretch from Chhatarpur Metro Station to Fatehpur Beri during the day remains choked. Traffic moves in snail pace and during office hours it takes around half hour to cover a kilometer. Who should be held responsible? Now elections have come and candidates are promising to resolve every issue," Singh said.
