Delhi Polls 2015: Poorvanchalis hold sway in over 20 seats in Delhi

NEW DELHI: "Ka haal baa", as BJP MP Manoj Tiwari enquired from the dais at Ramlila Maidan, the crowd went hysterical. The response to the Bhojpuri singer’s simple "how are you" at BJP’s January 10 Ramlila Maidan rally was an indication of the sway Poorvanchalis have in Delhi.

With an inflow of migrant labourers from neighbouring states, the population of Poorvanchalis has increased in Delhi making them a votebank for political parties. How important the Poorvanchali voters have become can be gauged by the fact that political parties are making specific poll promises to woo them. According to an internal survey conducted by Delhi BJP unit, the North East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency has the highest concentration – about 45% – of Poorvanchali voters. This explains a ticket to Tiwari in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

There are about 20 Assembly segments which are dominated by Poorvanchali voters. These include Burari, Vikaspuri, Seemapuri, Kirari, Dwarka, Gokalpuri, Karawal Nagar, Badarpur, Tughlaqabad, Patparganj, Laxmi Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Uttam Nagar, Wazirpur, Rajinder Nagar, Matiala, Rithala, Badli, Nangloi and Deoli. This time BJP has given three tickets to Poorvanchalis – sitting MLA Anil Kumar Jha from Kirari, Sanjay Singh from Vikaspuri and Gopal Jha from Burari. Congress has given two tickets – former MP Mahabal Mishra from Dwarka and journalist-turned-politician Pratyush Kanth from Kirari.

AAP leads the pack as it has given representation to Poorvanchalis in 11 of the 20 constituencies. The political representation to Poorvanchalis is based on electoral math.