Delhi Elections 2015: AAP's Manish Sisodia may face tough fight in Patparganj

NEW DELHI: From all accounts, Patparganj will not be an easy fight this time. In 2013, AAP's Manish Sisodia won the seat and went on to become a minister in Arvind Kejriwal's cabinet. While he continues to be in the fray, his opponent from BJP is former colleague Vinod Kumar Binny who was expelled by AAP in 2014.

Sisodia won against BJP's Nakul Bharadwaj by a margin of 11,476 votes in 2013. In the 2014 Lok Sabha battle for east Delhi parliamentary constituency, this largely middle-class segment was firm in its support for Narendra Modi and AAP's Rajmohan Gandhi trailed her by 26,333 votes. This time around, the mood has definitely changed. While AAP is back in favour, remnants of the Modi wave will ensure reasonable support for BJP. This is also one constituency where Congress, due to its candidate former MLA Anil Chowdhary, is finding favour.

In Mandawali's market area, the opinion is split between BJP and AAP. Voters however say that because Binny is an outsider, the vote will be for BJP and not the candidate. "It is a very tight competition between BJP and AAP. In fact, if BJP had a local candidate, they might have been able to win the seat without any trouble. Binny is being looked at as an outsider," said a trader.

In the residential area, however, the support is largely for AAP. Avdhesh Kumar, a shopkeeper says: "Close to 80% people I interact with daily say they will vote for AAP. BJP and Congress will get some votes, but very few."

Binny, of course, denies the charge that local volunteers are upset with him. "People are spreading rumours. We started campaigning very recently and I am focusing on the mohalla sabha format that I practiced in my previous constituency. Half my family is from Patparganj so I am not an outsider," he said.

On the other side of NH-24 lies Mayur Vihar, a middle-class colony where, in 2014, it was difficult to find one person who would vote for a party other than BJP. The mood here only adds to the confusion. "It is a fight between AAP and Congress in this area. Nobody knows the BJP candidate and Congress' Anil Chowdhary worked for the people when he was MLA. Manish Sisodia won last year in the AAP wave but since the party did not last long in government one can't say how he will perform," said Vinod, a shopkeeper.

Again, the residential area seems to lean towards AAP. Sunita, who runs a beauty parlour says most women she meets say they will support AAP. Sisodia says Congress is not in the picture at all and after Binny's name was announced, several BJP grassroot workers moved to AAP. "Patparganj is an RSS stronghold so obviously there is support for BJP but the lower-level workers are angry with the high command. Previous Congress strongholds like unauthorized colonies, etc are voting for AAP. We are not worried," he said.

Congress candidate Anil Chowdhary is also confident of his win. "I have worked as an MLA and people remember that. They will move back to Congress because they have realized that no other political party was able to offer development," he said.