Delhi Assembly polls: Congress has an edge in Jangpura
People are disenchanted with the AAP MLA. Rahul Gandhi addressed a huge rally there on February 4, Tuesday

There is considerable anger against Aam Aadmi Party candidate Praveen Kumar in Jangpura Assembly constituency in Delhi. It is this anger towards the local MLA’s no-show for more than seven years and his personal goodwill that Congress candidate Tarvinder Singh Marwah is hoping to use to his advantage to reclaim the seat. The BJP seems to be not even in contention for the seat.
Addressing a rally in Jangpura, where at least 10,000 people had assembled, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that if any body wanted development, it was only the Congress which could deliver it. “The Narendra Modi government is selling off all state assets such as Air India, BPCL, Railways, Hindustan Petroleum. They are selling everything, and they can even sell off Taj Mahal,” pointed out Gandhi.
“Both BJP and AAP are only interested in marketing themselves. Even after Tarvinder Singh Marwah lost the elections a few years ago, he still continued to work for his constituency. He is a man who works and is not just a marketing image. He was there solving your problems even when the AAP MLA couldn’t,” underscored Gandhi.
Accusing the Modi government of inaction on the front of employment and job creation, Gandhi quipped that Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, when asked in an interview as to how many jobs have been created, said that if she were to give any numbers, Rahul Gandhi would have to question her.
“The FM is not ready to speak about job creation. PM Narendra Modi said he would provide two crore jobs. What did he do to create jobs, what did CM Arvind Kejriwal do to tackle unemployment in Delhi,” asked Gandhi. This government only runs for Ambani and Adani as they are the only people who have benefitted under PM Modi’s rule, maintained the Congress leader.
Asserting that the central government was only capable of spreading hatred on the basis of religion, Gandhi highlighted, “Hatred is not a part of our history, ours is a country of love. BJP talks of religion, but no religion talks of violence. These people do not know anything about religion and that’s why they are killing people.”
The Wayanad MP said BJP keeps talking about Pakistan but it was Marwah who went to Pakistan and shouted “Hindustan Zindabad” slogans without any security. This act of his landed him in jail too. “Show me one BJP leader who has done the same. Be it the Aam Aadmi Party or the BJP, no one does actual work but is busy in marketing. They take the public's money and spend it on marketing and advertising,” added Gandhi.
At the mention of Marwah, most people in the crowd beam. “Everyone here has come to support Marwahjion their own. There was no money given. He is a leader who has been with us whether he was in power or not. Even in these last seven years, we could go to him with our problems and he would solve them. If he doesn’t win, it is our bad luck,” said Roger Charles, who lives in the Tamil Colony near Sunlight Colony.
“This whole winter there was water scarcity in the area. Whenever we would go to the AAP MLA to find solutions for our water crisis, he would give us excuses. We rarely even got to meet him. On the other hand, Marwahji’shouse is open for all us. We could walk in anytime with our problems and a solution would be found. He comes for the wedding and death of every person in the locality,” pointed out Jyoti Kanojia who lives in the nearby area.
“He is a genuine candidate. He would never discriminate on the basis of caste or religion. When we would have trouble, he would come with us even if it were 1 am at night. Even after losing the last Assembly election, he didn’t stop his work. He continued to help us. He will win from here,” explained Jamil, who runs a butcher shop near Maharanibagh.
Underscoring his accessibility, Devinder Kumar, who drives an autorickshaw in the locality, said, “He helped me with the admissions of all my three children. He has done that for everyone in the locality. He is accessible, I didn’t have to go to with using the name of any other leader. No one who went to his house came back empty-handed.” Charles, who works at a BPO, has taken leave on Tuesday to be able to attend Marwah’s rally where Rahul Gandhi was speaking.
The Jangpura state Assembly constituency is a part of the East Delhi parliamentary constituency. The total number of voters in this constituency is 1,41,994 with 78,586 men, 63,400 women and 8 third gender voters.
In the 2015 Assembly polls, the AAP’s Praveen Kumar won with 43,927 votes. The runner-up was BJP’s Maninder Singh Dhir with 23,477 votes. In the 2013 elections, Maninder Singh, who had contested on an AAP ticket won with 29,701 votes; then the runner-up was Tarvinder Singh Marwah with 27,957 votes.
From 1998 till 2013, the MLA of this seat was Tarvinder Singh Marwah who won in 1998, 2003 and 2008. In these three elections, the runner-up candidates were from the BJP.
Follow us on: Facebook, Twitter, Google News, Instagram
Join our official telegram channel (@nationalherald) and stay updated with the latest headlines