Eye on urban voters, Bidhuri turns urbane

NEW DELHI: With Congress looking like a write-off in South Delhi parliamentary constituency, BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri has his sights firmly trained on Aam Aadmi Party that won over the area's educated urban voters in the assembly elections.


"You are educated people. You know everything. But, at the risk of repeating myself, I will tell how AAP fooled people. Congress' corruption has been exposed already," he told the English-speaking elite of Vasant Kunj in a mix of English and Hindi on Tuesday.

Eager to know where he stands in the triangular contest with AAP's Devinder Sehrawat and Congress MP Ramesh Kumar, Bidhuri has got his team to circulate a support pledge among voters.

The Gujjar leader came dressed in linen trousers and shirt, and was at pains to play down his brash and rustic image. "Most people think I am outspoken and aggressive. This image cost me the elections in 2009. This time round, I am trying to take everyone along and have also worked on my image to appeal to the educated, middle class," he said. His burly hangers-on are keeping out of the picture this time.

While Congress could not win a single assembly seat in the South Delhi constituency area, BJP emerged strong with seven, but debutant AAP's rise with three seats-Sangam Vihar, Ambedkar Nagar and Deoli-has the party worried. Bidhuri, a three-time MLA from Tughlaqabad, has consequently attacked it throughout his campaign.

"If people failed to comprehend the fake promises AAP made in the run-up to the December elections, it is not their fault. I feel BJP failed to expose them in time," Bidhuri said. "Arvind Kejriwal said his MLAs will not take any official bungalow or car. The fact is, MLAs are not entitled to such emoluments anyway."

Bidhuri lost the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from South Delhi by a margin of more than 90,000 votes. Wiser from his mistakes, he says he is not banking on star campaigners. "c campaigning in this area may not help in getting as many votes as door-to-door campaigning will. I am focusing on meeting people with Modi-ji's message."