Lok Sabha polls 2014: Mahabal Mishra upbeat about Congress' chances

NEW DELHI: Despite the drubbing in the assembly polls and his son's defeat in Palam constituency, West Delhi MP Mahabal Mishra is confident that Aam Aadmi Party's popularity is on the wane and BJP's candidate Parvesh Verma is his main rival.

The two-time MP and Congress leader said, "The Jan Lokpal that AAP was trying to push through the assembly, and for which they criticized the opposition, will lead to its downfall as the common people can now see through its false assurances."

Mishra's son Vinay has taken centre stage to salvage Congress' depleting fortune and boost his father's chances of a third consecutive victory from West Delhi parliamentary constituency. Vinay is meeting people and party workers to kick-start the campaign. Last Saturday, when Mishra was busy meeting people at his house and organizing a padyatra through Milap Nagar and Uttam Nagar, Vinay was planning the campaign trails that began from Monday.

While Mishra resumed his meetings after the padyatra, Vinay hit the streets with his supporters. His canvassing ended at the Janakpuri market, where a candlelight march was taken out from the C4 E-Market as a tribute to Bhagat Singh, Sukhev and Rajguru.

Over 200 people joined the procession. "After the assembly elections we had to accept that despite developmental work, people were unhappy with us. The general election is a different ballgame. We hope to manage booth-level campaigning better," said Vinay.

Mishra's campaign manager, Sanjay, said the strategy was to have as much personal interaction as possible till March 31, after which they will turn their attention to big public meetings. Mishra's focus is on covering all the 40 municipal wards in the constituency, meeting Congress workers, religious and cultural organizations, NGOs and RWAs. From April 1 to 7, he will address public gatherings. Mishra seems to be taking out at least one padyatra a day in busy areas. Mishra said, "Congress has recovered from the setback, while AAP's graph is sliding."