Lok Sabha elections: Voters of this North East Delhi locality are poles apart

NEW DELHI: Pucci and Kacchi Khajuri colonies in North East Delhi face each other but they are worlds apart. Pucci Khajuri, as the name suggests, has pucca roads and sprawling houses with drains covered, while Kacchi Khajuri has kuccha or no roads and overflowing drains that give off a terrible stench. Pucci has a predominantly Gujjar population, and Kacchi mostly houses Muslims.

Residents of the colonies, divided by Pushta Road linking Delhi with Uttar Pradesh, are not well disposed towards each other. The differences are so stark that Pucci Khajuri residents are planning to construct a boundary wall to keep out their less-privileged neighbours. This would deny the Muslim community access to schools or medical help as even basic facilities are missing on their side.

"People from the other side create a nuisance and girls are routinely harassed outside the school," said Joginder Yadav, a photocopier opposite the school, which made headlines in September 2009 when five girls were killed and 34 injured in a stampede allegedly started by some badly behaved boys.

"We have been reduced to a mere vote bank," said Mohammed Irfan, a grocery owner. With only one government school, that too till Class V in the area, the kids have to run the gauntlet of fast-moving traffic every day for crossing the road. "There are no schools and the private schools are beyond our reach."

However, the Gujjars blame their neighbours for that tragedy. "The boys are so uncultured and the crime rate is high only because of them. Even that day, it was they who misbehaved with the girls," said Omkar Bhati, a resident. For these residents, Kacchi Khajuri itself is illegal and some of them want razed. "They are encroachers and should be removed."

The Muslims, who fall under Karawal Nagar constituency, regret their area isn't part of Mustafabad constituency. They say BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht has completely ignored them. "Had we been in Mustafabad constituency, development might have been brought to our area by Congress MLA Hasan Ahmad. We don't vote for him (Bisht) so he doesn't care about us," said Mohammed Mushtaq, adding that the road outside his house has not been constructed for the past 27 years. But the Muslims are very upset with their Congress MP for not looking after them. "He didn't show his face for four and a half years; six months ago he ordered three road construction projects," said Khurshid Anwar, a local leader, pointing at the huge dump outside his lane.

The irony is that both have been Congress bastions, and both now seem to be slipping away-the Gujjars because of anti-incumbency and Muslims because of the subhuman living conditions. "Congress doesn't have our support anymore and the AAP factor is very strong here," said Vipin Ram, a resident of Pucci Khajuri. While many are inclined towards AAP, some are even considering BJP; this is true especially for Gujjars.