NEW DELHI:One of the closely fought seats this poll season in Delhi will be Hari Nagar in West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. Both AAP and the BJP have gone for fresh faces. While the BJP has fielded its rabble-rouser Tajinder Bagga, AAP has replaced its two time MLA Jagdeep Singh with Raj Kumari Dhillon.
There are a total of 1, 74, 463 voters this time from this constituency with 92, 731 male and 81, 726 female voters. Last time, BJP ally Shiromani Akali Dal fought from this seat and lost by more than 15, 000 votes to the AAP candidate.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Jagdeep Singh had won the seat twice in a row -- both in 2013 and 2015. But before the AAP came into being, from 1993 to 1998, the seat has been a BJP bastion.
This time around, Bagga, who is also the Delhi BJP spokesperson, has been fielded from this Sikh majority constituency. Dhillon was brought in to counter any anti incumbency by AAP.
Soon after Bagga's name was announced on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, he released a poster that says "Neta nahi, Beta (I am a son, not a leader)", which appears to be his campaign slogan. However, Dhillon is riding on the Arvind Kejriwal wind and the party's slogan of "Acche bitey 5 saal (Last 5 years were well spent)".
Mayapuri, Nanakpura, Paraag Vihar are key areas that encircle the Hari Nagar constituency. Scarcity of clean water and parking space remain top electoral issues even in 2020. Residents often complain of illegal parking. As candidates, both have to convince the electorates here that they have a formidable road plan to address their concerns.
With CAA protests rocking Delhi, it is expected to come up in the discourse during campaign. BJP hopes to capitalise on that, given Sikhs, who form a significant part of the constituency, will be benefiting from the legislation as well.
The Citizenship Amendment Act makes it easier for the non-Muslim immigrants facing religious persecution in Muslim-majority nations -- Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan -- to become Indian citizen and reduces the stipulated years one needs to spend in India for applying for citizenship.
Delhi will poll on February 8 and the results will come on February 11.