February 2020, Delhi riots. The pictures that came to the fore as soon as I read them may have been two years old, but for the people of North East Delhi, they are still like yesterday and day before yesterday. Two years after these riots, the first election is now in Delhi, in such a situation, everyone’s eyes are fixed on which side the voters of this area will turn to after suffering the pain of riots.
For MCD elections 2022, every party, candidate is in the fray with the claim of victory. In North East Delhi, the parties have also selected the candidates after understanding the effect of the riots on the seat, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the delimitation.
14-15 seats of MCD were affected by the riots
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Talking about the riots, it had an impact on many areas of North East Delhi. From the point of view of MCD seats, these areas are limited to about 14-15 seats. Most of the areas have a mixed population and some or the other memory related to the riots is still fresh in the minds of the people of both the communities.
To understand the impact of the riots on the elections, we went to the areas from where the riots started and the areas which were affected the most. This includes areas like Seelampur, Maujpur, Nehru Vihar etc.
On visiting these areas, talking to people, it is known that the main contest in the Delhi MCD elections here is between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party, which has been in power for 15 years. But Congress also has dominance in some seats in North East Delhi. One seat is also like this, here the independent candidate has been supported by the AAP candidate. Most of the 15 seats on which Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM is contesting in Delhi are from this region.
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The Muslim candidates of Congress and AIMM are besieging the Aam Aadmi Party by raising the Markaz episode of Delhi riots and Tablighi Jamaat. In such a situation, old videos of those statements of Arvind Kejriwal are being taken out and made viral, in which he had given about the Markaz of Tablighi Jamaat. In the Muslim areas, the Aam Aadmi Party seems to be surrounded by this issue, while the BJP is also hoping for victory in the Muslim areas with the help of polarization. In such a situation, it is to be seen who wins in the riot-affected areas in the MCD elections?
Seelampur (Ward No. 225)
This was the first point of the beginning of the riots. The metro station is located in the Jaffrabad area falling in this ward, under which a protest against the CAA-NRC was held. Then people protested against them in Maujpur. After this the situation worsened and no one understood when the matter reached from stone pelting to arson and firing.
Seelampur ward of North East Delhi is a Muslim majority area. A total of 7 candidates are in the fray from here. This seat is reserved for female candidate. The current corporator here is Hajjan Shakeela, who won the election on a Bahujan Samaj Party ticket. But now he is in the fray as an independent candidate. Here the AAP Aadmi Party candidate has stopped campaigning and has supported Hajjan Shakeela.
The independent candidate Hajjan Shakeela, who is being discussed so much here, has been a councilor twice before. She and her husband Haji Afzal were first in the Bahujan Samaj Party and then in the Aam Aadmi Party. After not getting ticket from AAP, this time Hajjan filed independent (auto rickshaw election symbol) form.
| Party | Candidate |
|---|---|
| Congress | Mumtaz |
| BJP | Seema Sharma |
| Independent | Hajjan Shakeela |
| AIMIM | Shabnam |
Electoral equation of Seelampur
Riots definitely started from Seelampur area, but it did not have that much effect here. Out of total 44 thousand votes, around 29 thousand are Muslim and around 15 thousand are Hindu votes. That’s why BJP has fielded a Hindu candidate here. Actually, all other candidates including Congress, AIMIM are Muslims. In such a situation, if the Muslim vote is divided, then there are chances of BJP’s victory. On the other hand, AIMIM is also beating strongly here. Owaisi himself held a public meeting here and asked for votes for his candidate.
Did the delimitation have any effect on this seat? In response to this, most of the party workers said that this entire area is Muslim dominated, so cutting the area here and adding new ones has not made much difference.
Major localities- Seelampur, Shastri Park, Jaffrabad (Gali No. 1 to 12)
Total votes – around 42 to 44 thousand
Out of the total seven candidates, only BJP has expressed confidence in the Hindu candidate. Please tell that Seelampur is such an assembly seat where BJP could never win, however, it has got success in councilorship earlier also.
Chauhan Bangar (Ward No. 227)
The main contest from this Muslim-dominated seat is believed to be between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party. The Congress has fielded Shagufta Chowdhary, wife of the current corporator Chowdhary Zubair Ahmed, because of the women’s seat being reserved. Zubair became a councilor after winning the by-election held two years ago. Shagufta Chowdhary’s father-in-law Chowdhary Matin is also a senior Congress leader and has also been an MLA from the area.
On the other hand, the Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Asma Rehman, wife of the sitting MLA of the area, Abdul Rehman. At the same time, BJP has also placed bets on a Muslim face (Saba Ghazi) on this seat. Saba Ghazi Pasmanda is a Muslim. BJP wants to make this backward class of Muslim society a part of its vote bank. However, both the Congress and the AAP claim that the BJP is nowhere near in this contest.
| Party | Candidate |
|---|---|
| Congress | Shagufta Chowdhary |
| BJP | Shaba Ghazi |
| AAP | asam rahman |
Major areas – Entire area of Chauhan Bangar, Jaffrabad (From Gali No. 13 to 52)
Total votes – around 44 thousand
Election equation of Chauhan Bangar
This area next to Seelampur was affected by the riots. The news of arson, stone pelting and firing was first received from here itself. There is strong opposition to the BJP here. Along with this, there is anger among people against AAP after the riots. Allegations of familism are also being leveled against AAP that only the MLA’s wife has been given the corporator’s ticket. Asam Rahman’s husband and sitting MLA Abdul Rahman was accused of inciting it during the riots.
Some videos of sitting corporator Zubair (whose wife is in the fray) also went viral in the area. It was claimed that he was working to poison a community in the society. However, after the victory in the by-election, he is in the field with full confidence.
Maujpur (Ward No. 228)
Now let’s talk about Maujpur seat. During the riots, people of the Hindu community had united in this area. These people came on the road here against the people sitting in a chakka jam against CAA-NRC. The effect of delimitation and riots can be seen on this seat.
AAP party has cut the ticket of sitting councilor Reshma Nadeem. Instead, Hindu face Neeraj Kaushik has been made the candidate. The main reason for this is believed to be the addition of some areas of Brahmapuri to the councilor seat, where most of the population is of the Hindu community.
On the other hand, BJP has fielded Anil Kumar Sharma, who was earlier in Congress and has also contested the councilor election twice. Here Vinod Kumar Sharma is the candidate from Congress, who is in the fray for the first time. Here a candidate named Nandkishore has also filed an independent nomination for not getting ticket from BJP, but he is not getting any special response from the public.
| Party | Candidate |
|---|---|
| Congress | Vinod Kumar Sharma |
| BJP | Anil Kumar Sharma |
| AAP | Neeraj Kaushik |
| BSP | Deepak Gupta |
Maujpur’s electoral equation
Out of the total 53 thousand voters of Maujpur, there are about 35 thousand Hindu voters, in which the majority belong to Sharma and Vaish community. Apart from this, there are around 18 thousand Muslim voters. Both Congress and AAP are eyeing him. But BJP will also make a dent in this. Because BJP candidate Anil Gaur was earlier in Congress and he is not an untouchable for people of other communities. Also his hold is stronger than Congress, AAP candidate.
Apart from this, there is resentment among the people of Maujpur about AAP MLAs Gopal Rai and Abdul Rahman. These people are also angry with councilor Reshma Nadeem (AAP). People alleged that all of them did not do any work in their area. On the other hand, after the riots, the atmosphere in favor of BJP is visible here. However, there is also a possibility of division of Hindu votes here as all the three main parties have given tickets to Brahmin caste candidates. Because of this, Congress workers believe that only these 18 thousand Muslim votes will play a decisive role.
Total voters – around 53 thousand
Major localities- Arjun Mohalla, Adarsh Mohalla, Ashok Mohalla, Jammu Mohalla, Gurudwara Mohalla, Bajrang Bali Mohalla, Brahmpuri (Gali No. 1 to 13)
The main problems of the people here are jam and a liquor contract, which was opened under the new liquor policy and has not been removed till now. BJP-Congress as well as AAP candidates are also promising to remove it if they win.
Yamuna Vihar (Ward No. 232)
After Maujpur, the fire of riots spread towards Yamuna Vihar as well. There are Noor-e-Ilahi, Nehru Park, Mustafabad, Kardampuri areas around this Hindu-dominated area, where the number is Muslim-dominated. All the three main parties have nominated Hindu faces from this seat and the riots are being mentioned openly in the campaign.
BJP has given ticket to the present councilor Pramod Gupta here again by expressing confidence in him. During the conversation, Pramod said that Yamuna Vihar area is a victim of riots. He also said that there is anger among the people here against the AAP Aadmi Party. When asked the reason for this, he mentioned Tahir Hussain, the then councilor of Nehru Vihar.
| Party | Candidate |
|---|---|
| Congress | Rajkumar Sharma |
| BJP | Pramod Gupta |
| AAP | Vinita Luthra |
Total voters – around 45 to 50 thousand
Which areas – Yamuna Vihar, C-block of Bhajanpura, E and F block of Subhash Mohalla, Sanjay Mohalla.
Most of the voters here come from the Vaishya community. That’s why BJP has again fielded Pramod Gupta of Aggarwal caste. Here the population of Punjabi (Sikh) people is also good, considering which AAP has nominated Vineet Luthra as its candidate. To counter Luthra, BJP is calling Sikh leaders, ministers for campaigning. On the other hand, AAP is in the field with the taunt of ‘If you want a mountain of garbage, then vote for BJP’.
Electoral equation of Yamuna Vihar
There were many claimants of BJP ticket on this seat. Poonam Chauhan, daughter-in-law of former MLA Saheb Singh Chauhan, social workers UK Chaudhary, Mukesh Jain etc. were seeking tickets from here. But BJP again reposed faith in Pramod Gupta. Inside, there is some resentment for Pramod Gupta getting the ticket.
In the conversation, people alleged that councilor Gupta does not pick up their calls and did not do anything for the area even after becoming the chairman twice. He is also being accused of troubling the traders by showing them the fear of challan. Despite this, only Hindutva and the party are important to them. It will be a matter to be seen whether votes will be received in the name of
On the other hand, AAP says that they are contesting elections on the issue of maintenance of parks, problem of stray dogs, cleanliness, while BJP wants to get votes only by doing Hindu-Muslim. Here BJP is going ahead considering its fight with Congress.
Subhash Mohalla – 233 (W)
This ward situated between Yamuna Vihar and Maujpur is Subhash Mohalla. During the riots, many shops and vehicles were set ablaze here. A total of four candidates are in the fray in this area with a mixed population, out of which two are Hindu and two are Muslim. BJP and AAP have fielded Hindu faces, while Congress and AIMIM have fielded Muslim faces.
Total voters – around 57 thousand
Localities- Subhash Mohalla, Noor e Ilahi, Momin Chowk, Baburam Chowk
AAP has expressed confidence in the current councilor Rekha Tyagi here. But they are facing competition from Congress, BJP as well as AIMIM. Actually, the candidates from AIMIM and the workers in their support were themselves part of AAP earlier. But he did not like the attitude of the current MLA Gopal Rai in the riots, due to which he left the party and stood with AIMIM.
| Party | Candidate |
|---|---|
| Congress | Nazra Nafees Malik |
| BJP | Manisha Punia |
| AAP | Rekha Tyagi |
| AIMIM | Manajra Rashid Ali |
Electoral equation of Subhash Mohalla
There is resentment towards the BJP candidate here. People say that why was the ticket given to the wife of Satish Punia, who came to the party two-and-a-half years ago? While many older faces like Ishwar Singh were in line for tickets. Despite this, in the eyes of the people, he is at the forefront of the four candidates because the Hindu vote appears to be standing with him. Rekha Tyagi is being considered at number two here. But after the riots, along with Hindu voters, some Muslim voters are also angry with him and his party.
Do riots have an effect on elections? On this question, the people of Congress and AIMIM answered yes. On the other hand, Rekha Tyagi said that the rest of the parties are contesting elections here with religious colour. But this area is such that without taking people from both the sides, there can be no victory. Rekha’s point seems to be correct here in many ways. It is not so easy to predict the election result of this seat. Rekha herself had won here in the last election by a total of 315 votes.
Nehru Vihar Seat (Ward No. 244)
The same seat of Mustafabad Vidhansabha, some videos and photos of which put the living picture of the chaos during the riots in front of everyone. AAP leader Tahir Hussain was a councilor from here, who is currently in jail for inciting riots. Earlier this ward was called Muslim dominated but after delimitation the situation has changed a bit. Party candidates also believe in the same way.
This is probably the effect of the equation changed after delimitation and riots that this time AAP has placed bets on Hindu face Pravesh Chaudhary. Congress candidate Aleem Ansari told in the conversation that after the delimitation the area has become smaller, Mustafabad has been cut from it. At the same time, many Hindu areas have been added to this ward.
| Party | Candidate |
|---|---|
| Congress | Aleem Ansari |
| BJP | pravesh chaudhary |
| AAP | Arun Bhati |
Total voters – around 57 thousand
Localities- Chandunagar, Nehru Vihar, Dayalpur D Block, Shakti Vihar
Nehru Vihar’s electoral equation
The election result of this seat can surprise because of the delimitation. Here BJP has given ticket to its last candidate Arun Bhati. He was defeated by Tahir Hussain. But after the riots, an atmosphere has been created against AAP. While the Hindu population seems to be angry with Tahir Hussain, the people of both the communities are angry with the current MLA Haji Yunus. People say that the MLA and the councilor did nothing to remove the pile of garbage, clean the drains, build roads and get rid of waterlogging.
Chandu Nagar, which has a Hindu-Muslim mix population, has been added to this seat for the first time. Due to which BJP leaders and workers have hope of victory. Wherein Dayalpur D Block (Pahari population), Nehru Vihar (Hindu-Muslim mix) it will be a matter to be seen which of the three parties will be elected. Please tell that Nehru Vihar seat comes in Mustafabad area where Owaisi had held a public meeting in the past. AIMIM is fighting with full vigor on this seat as well.
53 people were killed in the riots, more than 700 were injured
In February 2020, clashes between supporters and opponents of the amended Citizenship Act (CAA) took the form of communal riots. In this riot, 53 people died and more than 700 people were injured. Shiv Vihar, Mustafabad, Bhajanpura, Vijay Park, Yamuna Vihar and Maujpur were the most affected areas in the riots.
Some people in the riot-affected area want to forget the incident and move forward and say that the MCD elections are being held on a local issue. Cleaning of drains and streets. In such a situation, even though the election is being held for MCD, but the effect of riots cannot be denied in this. According to the local people, it will have an impact on the elections, but how much it will affect will be known on December 7.