Delhi Elections: Will Middle Class Help Lead AAP to Victory?

Delhi witnessed a high-pitched battle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the campaigning for the Assembly elections on Saturday. While AAP appears to be confident of its performance in the past five years, BJP resorted its time-tested formula of raising communal issues. The saffron party believes that fanning these issues will help sway the upper-caste middle class.

BJP has not been in power in the national capital for 22 years. And even though it could bag only three seats in the last Assembly elections, political analysts point out that vote share of the saffron party had remained intact at 32.1%. Will it be able to retain or better its performance this time? NewsClick talked to several middle class families from localities across Delhi to find out and understand their choice ahead of the polls.

‘Performance over Personal Connect’

Sanwal Nagar, surrounded by the central government staff quarters in South Delhi, is part of Kasturba Nagar constituency. A few days ahead of the polls, workers could be seen fixing the sewer tanks and placing new cap covers. A local shopkeeper, who requested anonymity, said that the work was getting executed following orders from sitting MLA of the Aam Aadmi Party, Madan Lal. The shopkeeper told NewsClick that he was satisfied with the performance of the ruling party. He said, “The biggest relief for the locality has been improved and constant water supply. We used to sit till 2 am in the night to fill our canisters. This colony was sharing a pipeline which delivered water to the officers’ flat in HUDCO place. Now, we have an exclusive pipeline for this colony.”

He also quickly pointed to the recently installed CCTV cameras. On the other hand, he’s miffed with the rampant unemployment in the county. “I have three qualified sons who are looking for jobs. I have rented out rooms and run this small shop. This is how I manage to earn livelihood. My younger son is a B Tech degree holder. He worked for a multi-national company and earned Rs 12,000 per month. Now, he is jobless. I want this government to create new job opportunities. How long will I support them?”

Kamlesh Bindoriya and Shobha Bindoriya, residents of the same colony, have different views on the issues and the elections. Shobha Bindoriya, a housewife, told NewsClick that although AAP has performed well, she saw the MLA only during the campaign. “I do not know whom to contact if I have any issue. Congress’s office is in Andrews Ganj and we visit it if we need any help. The candidate too visits us during festivals and hard times. I think it’s missing in the AAP candidate.”

But her relative, Kamlesh, said that she would rather give preference to the performance over personal connect. She said, “I think we should give priority to the people who delivered on their promises. We nearly paid nothing for electricity. I ride for free in the Delhi Transport Corporation buses. What else one would want?”

Under AAP’s electricity subsidy scheme, the residents of Delhi are given waiver for consumption up to 200 units. Latest reports reveal that almost 50% of the Delhi’s population received subsidy for their electricity consumption and helped in reducing expenditure of the low-consumption families significantly. The party, which announced this measure in April last year, had said that like education and healthcare, a basic quantum of electricity should be treated as a right.

No to freebies, Yes to Vikas

Sadiq Nagar is a government colony housing various employees from various departments. Sarita, a housewife, argues that she hates the idea of freebies and would vote someone who will bring 'vikas' [development]. She said, “Instead of freebies, I want my country to be safe and secure.” Pushpa Rani, who stands close, nods her head. Preeti, another housewife, said, “You see the people are protesting without knowing the purpose of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. I personally support the act.”

She added, “We have seen how these protesters are taking money to participate in the protests.”

A bit of Respite, a bit of Hope

NewsClick also spoke to a number of visitors at Saket community centre surrounding PVR Anupam. The area hosts a range of restaurants, book shops and mobile phone stores. Anubhav, a student at New Delhi Institute of Management who lives in Lakshmi Nagar, said that he plans to go with the NOTA (none of the above) option while voting. “That’s my personal choice”. When asked about the performance of the AAP government, he said, “I have heard that the AAP has brought improvement in the schools, but it is of less importance. The students must know what they wish to pursue in their lives. I guess they are not getting this training in the schools. Similarly, I travel in buses. The party had promised to bring more buses, but I do not find them on the roads.”

Anubhav’s friend, who did not want be named, said, “We see a stark difference within a few kilometers. Our college has allocated a hostel to us in the Sangam Vihar area. If one visits that area, you will find that the roads have completely disappeared. We do not expect this in the national capital. I cannot tell you the pain we suffer everyday when we travel from our hostel to the college.”

Sahil, a technician at a private studio in Noida, who lives in Ambedkar Nagar, is uncertain if he will go to vote, but if he does, he will consider AAP. Talking to NewsClick, he said, “As a family, we have decided that we will prefer AAP. I have not forgotten the days when we had to wake up in the night to fill the tanks. If we missed the chance, we were required to stand up in the queue at private tube wells. Secondly, we have two government dispensaries in our area. The government doctors were so irresponsible that they would come at 12 pm when reporting time was 10 am. Within two hours, they would disappear. You would rarely find them in evening. When we enquired, we found that the doctors were busy at their private clinics. With Mohalla Clinics, AAP has fixed this problem.”

Will the Performance Card Work?

Simranjeet, a student, lives in Sector 9, Rohini, in the Northwest Delhi. He said that BJP's intense campaign on communally charged issues should be looked at from the perspective of performance in Municipal Corporation of Delhi. He said, “If BJP talks about AAP’s performance, people would ask about its work in the three MCDs. Thus, the best possible tool it can employ is the Hindu-Muslim divide and other emotive issues. Look at the schools run by it. Similarly, the sanitation situation is only worsening day by day.” NewsClick had earlier reported about the abysmal conditions in the schools where almost 40,000 students were compelled to sit on the floors in the absence of desks.

Commenting on the electoral scenario, Biswajit Mohanty, state co-ordinator for Delhi at CSDS-Lokniti, told NewsClick that the elections may witness a shift in the middle class base of Delhi even though BJP led a communally charged campaign. He said, “The issue of protests at Shaheen Bagh has clinched people’s imagination, although on micro level. The BJP wanted its campaign to percolate in the lower middle class segments, particularly, e-rickshaw drivers, small shopkeepers etc. But it did not work well. Similarly, AAP restricted private schools from increasing their fees incessantly. I think it has kept this significantly large section content with it. Similarly, we find that the women, too, will prefer AAP after they were allowed free ride on the buses, subsidised electricity and water. An interesting part is the deft handling of the campaign. Even though BJP relied on its high-decibel campaign, the AAP replied in a calm manner and built perception in its favour.”