In former bastion of Delhi, Congress worries which candidates to field

by Sanjeev Singh Such was the Congress party’s performance in 2009 Lok Sabha elections, that Sheila Dikshit and her band of men in Delhi were termed “lotus eaters”. But politics is a strange profession where the highs and lows don’t follow the normal rules of science. Today, Sheila Dikshit is cooling her heels in Kerala, while all sitting 7 MP’s are jittery about their future at the hustings. The outspoken senior Cabinet Minister Kapil Sibal is likely to be up against former editor of IBN7 Ashutosh Gupta, and BJP’s Vijender Gupta from Chandni Chowk. The seat has sizeable baniya (business community) vote and a large number of Muslim and Dalit voters which could be the deciding factor. This is one seat where there is no other claimant from the Congress apart from Sibal. The BJP is likely to make the most in a triangular fight, giving them a edge on this seat. This seems to the story in most seats of Delhi. The assembly election results came as a rude shock to the Congress where it was totally wiped out. The AAP ended up eating into most of its vote bank of Dalits and urban poor. The Congress is now hopeful that the lower classes’ honeymoon with the AAP is over. [caption id=“attachment_1433157” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sibal is likely to remain the candidate but can he hold on to his seat? AFP[/caption]“Kejriwal took inspiration from the Bolshevik revolution in Russia, and promised the world to the poor. But people are now coming back to the Congress fold as he has not been able to deliver on any promise,” Jagdish Tytler, a five time former MP, said. Primaries were held the two seats of New Delhi and North East Delhi, where a select group of the party was made the electorate and asked to vote for prospective candidates. Ajay Maken was the lone candidate from New Delhi while the other sitting MP, JP Agarwal romped home with over two-thirds of the votes. Even though both leaders are known to take good care of their supporters and have a good grasp of the organization, the situation in their constituencies remains grim for both. The Congress could have done with a Muslim candidate from the North East as it has the maximum number of Muslims (approximately 4.5 lakh) as compared to any seat in the state.  Five time MLA from Seelampur, Mateen Ahmed was keen to step into JP’s shoes but he didn’t stand a chance against the sitting MP in the primaries, so opted out. There are two potential candidates for Krishna Tirath’s North West Delhi reserved seat, former Mangolpuri MLA and PWD Minister, Rajkumar Chauhan and MLA from Sultanpur, Jai Kishen. They are pressing upon the leadership to put up some fresh faces to lessen the effect of the anti-incumbency wave. “We have communicated the feelings of our MLAs to the central leadership and we will know their decision in a few days” Shakeel Ahmed, AICC General Secretary in charge of Delhi, said. “It’s very difficult to say anything at this stage and would be premature to come to any conclusions, ”he added. There is buzz that the Congress may not want to repeat its sitting MP from South Delhi, Ramesh Kumar, who is the brother of Sajjan Kumar. Thanks to the 1984 Sikh riots tag, Sajjan’s son Jag Pravesh finished third from Sangam Vihar in the assembly elections last year. That has indicated that the party can now move beyond the Jat leader of yesteryears. The frontrunner for the seat is now NSUI leader Rohit Chaudhary, who also hails from Sajjan Kumar’s Jat community, and senior leader Chatar Singh. The party is hoping that bringing in reservation for Jats and a young face will assure it of the Muslim vote, and help it maintain its winning streak, especially if BJP decides to field Sahib Singh Verma’s son Pravesh from here. Sandeep Dikshit will be stay on as the candidate from the East Delhi seat as he was the only candidate recommended by the state unit. Despite his clean image and down to earth approach, he too is fighting a losing battle in his constituency. The Brahmin, Dalit and Muslim combination seems to be breaking away from the Congress. He is pitted against AAP’s Rajmohan Gandhi and BJP’s Mahesh Girri in all likelihood. With upper castes backing the BJP and Dalits shifting allegiance to the AAP, Dikshit’s only hope is to hold on to the Muslim vote. What seems to be working against him is the approach of senior party leaders towards the public. “The issue is not corruption, but the Congress doesn’t seem to have learnt its lesson,” Saif Kidwai, a resident of Okhla, said. “In a scenario where Modi has to be stopped, Muslims know which way the wind is blowing. They will not let their vote go waste,”  he said. Although there is anti-incumbency in West Delhi, but there appears no alternative to Mahabal Mishra since without him the dominant Poorvanchali (Eastern UP) vote will desert the Congress. AAP has fielded former journalist Jarnail Singh, who threw a shoe at P Chidambaram at a press conference, so the fight between Congress and BJP will be for this migrant vote. Congress has cleared 4 seats as of now, putting the announcement on its candidates from North West, West and South Delhi on hold. Chances are high that a new face will be given in South Delhi while the other two will remain the same. But the writing on the wall is clear for the party.  A lukewarm response from aspiring candidates in most seats only means disenchantment amongst the public at large. So not only does the party need to rethink its approach towards the public, but also its candidates if they are to survive the BJP and AAP onslaught.