‘Always a third front man, so I joined Congress’

Shoaib Iqbal’s party affiliations are almost seen as a straw poll in themselves, indicating who is best-placed. Even in elections he has not fought, such as those to the Lok Sabha, candidates in the old city have often kept an eye on which way he goes.

An MLA since 1993, he had started with the Janata Dal, done a stint in the Lok Janashakti Party, and contested on a JD(U) ticket in 2013. Two months ago he moved to the Congress, a party he had once sworn he would never join.

Why the Congress now? “I am a third-front person and have always stayed with the alternative. So, the minute the Congress turned into a third front in the city, I was attracted to it. Another reason is that I did not want to be seen as one dividing secular votes and get abused for that,” he says.

As he accepts another set of garlands outside Golcha Cinema, he discusses Kiran Bedi’s entry. “Someone should tell Bedi shasan and prashasan are very different. Bedi expects a salute wherever she goes; that is not politics.”

A member of his team is confident: “Shoaib bhai has taken care of our water and electricity needs. We pay nothing and get excellent water; the AAP’s pitch does not strike a chord here.”

Chaudhry Sahi Ram Pehalwan

Chaudhry Sahi Ram Pehalwan came with a number of FIRs and the reputation of being a strongman, to the extent that some opponents were too scared to campaign against him.

From BSP to AAP
Candidate, Tughlaqabad
Muscling into AAP

Last time, Chaudhry Sahi Ram Pehalwan was the BSP candidate when he lost to the BJP’s Ramesh Bhiduri. He is now leading a charged campaign with personal loyalists and AAP enthusiasts. The induction of such candidates has caused turbulence in the AAP, once known for freshness and unfamiliar candidates. He came with a number of FIRs and the reputation of being a strongman, to the extent that some opponents were too scared to campaign against him. Also, his selection has made it clear that local caste and power equations have become a factor for those handing out AAP tickets.

Things have been tense since AAP and BJP supporters clashed on the sidelines of a Hindi TV show, and Sahi Ram’s car was set on fire. An FIR was registered, and calm restored after some time. BJP supporters say it was the AAP doing it to their own, to malign the BJP. Since then, however, they don’t “enter into each other’s areas any more”, people whisper in Tehkhand.

Says Sahi Ram about his shift: “See, the BSP does not have a base here. The BJP has been a government of empty promises. The AAP has struck a chord…  It is about my personal connect, of course, as much as my symbol, the jhaadu.” He says he is “very open about my shift and no one really asks about it. But if they hint at it, I explain why I believe in AAP. Modi says people in jhuggis will get pucca homes in 2022… It is just a ruse to prepare ground for 2019. And anyway, I have most of my old party as the majority of the BSP unit walked with me.”

Krishna Tirath

From Congress to BJP
Campaigner
Banking on old work

Hers has been among the most dramatic of defections. After 30 years in the Congress and just over a week in the BJP, Krishna Tirath finds her schedule very packed. She steps out for at least three sessions daily. If she was busy a short while ago in Northwest Delhi from where she has been Congress MP twice, she is now in Patel Nagar, and says confidently that she has covered the entire area, bylane to bylane. The BJP is using her considerable, if diminished, credibility in these areas.

Coming back with a different symbol to people she had gone to for three decades , she sometimes faces questions. “They do laugh and say, ‘Madam, ab aap phool ke nishaan pe? Hum aapke saath hain’.”

She provides the BJP with good campaign material. “I have tremendous experience as a minister in Delhi, and as a minister at the Centre I worked for the country and not just for the Congress. Now, that goodwill and work we did, combined with my personal commitment to these areas, has ensured the people are with me.”

She says she is impressed with the BJP’s discipline. “Modi’s shakti has to be brought to work at the ground and that is what I am helping do.”

What is her sense of the coldness with which party stalwarts have greeted Kiran Bedi? “There is a lot of discipline here. Yes, several people were shocked initially, but then they realised it was in the best interests of the party and the city.”