The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP)newly-elected Mustafabad MLA Mohan Bisht on Sunday proposed to change the name of the northeast Delhi constituency, which has a significant population from the minority community, to “Shiv Vihar” or “Shiv Puri”. He justified his proposal by claiming that the Hindu population was higher in the constituency.
He said, ‘The official data says that Muslims are 45 per cent but wherever I have travelled, I have seen that Muslims are 60 per cent and Hindus are 40 per cent. We will conduct a census and also change the name of the area from Mustafabad to Shiv Vihar or Shivpuri.
Elected as an MLA for the sixth time Bisht, who was the sitting Karawal Nagar MLA and was replaced there by Kapil Mishra, defeated Adeel Ahmad Khan of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)by 17,578 votes. The senior leader had openly expressed his resentment at being replaced by Mishra in Karawal Nagar. He agreed to contest from Mustafabad after being placated by the BJP’s national leadership.
Many thought it would be counterproductive for the BJP, which was desperate to win this time. But as the results started pouring in on Saturday, they were exactly how the BJP leadership had anticipated.
Regarding his election from Mustafabad, he said that the senior leaders of the organisation blessed him and he extended the credit of his victory to the top leadership of BJP.
In his last five-year tenure, he was an MLA from Karawal Nagar, however, his seat was changed in this election. Reacting to it, Bisht said, “I was sad when my seat was changed but I returned to this seat after 17 years. I was asked to contest from Mustafabad but the organisation was worried that there might be a game of 19-20 from Mustafabad but I was sure that we would win. I was sad that why my seat was changed because my people were there and I was continuously working there after winning the election.”
On 2020 riots, he said, “The riots of 2020 saddened me a lot. A boy named Ankit Sharma was hacked to death. Someone’s hands were chopped off and his eyes were gouged out. I had never seen anything like this happening in Delhi. And I was even dragged into the allegations of those riots, but later the court cleared the air.”
Reacting to Bisht’s proposal to change the Mustafabad name, AAP’s Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan sought to know what the BJP wanted to achieve by it. Instead of doing such things, the BJP should start working positively and avoid negativity, he told reporters.
Bisht is being seen by some in the party as a potential candidate for the post of chief minister.
“The party gave me the chance to contest elections seven times and I won six of those. I am a regular party worker and whoever the party chooses will carry the ‘lotus’ symbol,” he said, when asked to comment on the speculation.
The BJP swept to power in Delhi after more than 26 years, winning 48 of the 70 assembly seats. AAP won 22 seats while the Congress drew a blank in the polls held on February 5. The results were announced on Saturday.
