Delhi polls: Slums can swing it in Aam Aadmi Party's favour

NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party may have drawn a blank in Lok Sabha elections in Delhi after its spectacular debut in the assembly polls, but it may still have some appeal among slum dwellers, who account for about a fifth of the total voters.

Power supply, water and corruption will remain the key issues in the upcoming assembly elections as well, said Jawahar Singh, patron of Jhuggi Jhopdi Ekta Manch, an organisation that works for the welfare of slum dwellers. "Kejriwal’s constant hammering on issues like corruption and Narendra Modi’s pitch for development hold relevance even now. An average slum dweller is troubled and aspirational at the same time," said Singh.

Although AAP lost many of its supporters when Kejriwal quit as chief minister after 49 days the short-lived government left a positive impression on many voters, Singh said, adding that there is a perception among people living in Delhi's slum clusters that during the days of AAP government, the police did not seek petty bribes, electricity bills came down and free water became available.

Slum dwellers in Delhi have traditionally voted for the Congress, but a local Congress leader who contested municipal elections unsuccessfully said on condition of anonymity, "The voting pattern is changing in urban slums. The new generation is not a captive of ideology, which is why Congress is losing. There is no connect between the top leadership and leaders at the grass-roots level."
There are cases where Congress' block presidents have not conducted any meetings of party workers for years, the Congress leader said, adding that as a result the party does not have people to work at the slum level. The leader rued that the party failed to cash in on the work done by the party’s government during Sheila Dikshit's tenure as chief minister.

The number of voters in Delhi has risen from 11.9 million in 2013 assembly elections to 12.06 million. According to figures from Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB), there are 3,04,368 slums spread across 59 assembly constituencies in Delhi, with the south zone accounting for the highest number of 80,876 slums in 13 assembly constituencies. In the upcoming elections too, AAP will face a resurgent BJP that will seek votes in PM Modi's name.

"AAP has emerged as a party of the poor. Without any risk of overstatement, I can say that the party will make further inroads if it campaigns hard," said Abhay Kumar Dubey, political analyst at the Delhi-based Centre for the Study of Developing Societies. Dubey added, "BJP has funds and resources, so it will be difficult to match it in those terms. It might also announce sops to woe voters in lower middle class and lower segments."