Issues related to water and sewage networks were at the top of their minds, Rajinder Nagar’s voters said as they cast their ballots for the Assembly bypoll on Thursday.
The Assembly constituency with close to 1.65 lakh voters saw a voter turnout of 43.75%, which was significantly lower than the 58.27% voting that was registered here during the 2020 Assembly polls.
Tushar Verma, 31, a software engineer, said that he felt it was going to be a tough fight between the BJP and AAP candidates.
“There is a huge Punjabi community here and the BJP candidate is a Punjabi. But AAP has also remained connected with people through local WhatsApp groups to address their problems for the past four to five years,” he said.
Listing the issues that were on the top of his mind as he cast his ballot, Mr. Verma said sewage water in the area gets mixed with the potable water supply line at least once or twice a month.
“We then have to buy water from outside. This is a major problem,” he added.
Gagandeep Singh, 46, a resident of Old Rajinder Nagar, expressed similar concerns.
“Water and sewer are the main issues in the area. Every year during summer, the water supply is inadequate. Many times, the flow of piped water reduces substantially,” said Mr. Singh.
Talking about the BJP and AAP candidates, he said, “Mr. Chadha is from this area. He used to visit this area often. But [AAP’s candidate Durgesh] Pathak is not from here. Whereas the BJP candidate is a local and a Punjabi.”
Mr. Singh’s wife Manjeet Kaur, 43, who was carrying their three-year-old daughter, complained of the area not having well-maintained parks.
Aggressive campaigns
The constituency saw aggressive campaigns led by AAP and the BJP for their respective candidates — Durgesh Pathak and Rajesh Bhatia, who are among the 14 candidates in the fray.
Mr. Bhatia said the voting pattern in the bypoll was as per the party’s expectation. He expressed confidence about defeating his AAP rival with a “comfortable margin”.
On the other hand, Mr. Pathak said that the people were happy with the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s work in the area. He predicted that AAP will win the bypoll. An AAP leader said that the voter turnout was higher in AAP strongholds — 50-50% — compared to the areas dominated by the BJP.
Since May 26, when the model code of conduct came into effect, a total of ₹11.57 crore has been seized in the form of cash, liquor, bullion and narcotics, while 47,180 defacements have been removed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, officials said.
“A total of 24 COVID-19 positive individuals also cast their votes. All precautions were maintained and the infected individuals wore PPE kits throughout the process,” said a senior official.
