High voltage campaign ends for Rajinder Nagar bypoll

A total of 20 candidates had filed their nominations for the by-election, where polling will be held on June 23. The BJP has fielded Rajesh Bhatia as its candidate, the AAP has given ticket to Durgesh Pathak, and Congress to Prem Lata. The seat fell vacant after AAP’s Raghav Chadha was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

There have been several violations of the election procedure reported in the area, with 36,390 cases of defacement being recorded since May 25. There have been police complaints in 23 cases, including 12 against AAP and nine against BJP, said Singh.

A total of 280 licensed arms have been surrendered in the constituency and five illegal weapons have been seized, leading to five arrests and FIRs, he said.

Also, 4.5 lakh liquor bottles have been seized from the constituency since May 25 while drugs worth Rs 10 crore, including heroin, have been recovered from across Delhi during this period, he added.

Items worth Rs 30 lakh, which are suspected to be meant for distribution among voters, have also been seized, he said.

There has also been a challan on 166 vehicles for violating election laws such as placing posters beyond the mandated size. This includes 100 against AAP, 43 against BJP and 13 against others, he said.

The result of the bypoll will be announced on June 26.

Both parties had their top leaders on the ground in the past week. From the BJP, Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Arjun Ram Meghwal, MPs Manoj Tiwari, Meenakshi Lekhi, Hans Raj Hans, Gautam Gambhir, Ravi Kishan and Delhi chief Adesh Gupta hit the streets for nukkad sabhas and road shows.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP senior leaders and ministers including Manish Sisodia, Gopal Rai and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh have also been campaigning in different areas of the constituency relentlessly.

BJP candidate Rajesh Bhatia said, “I know local issues well, having been born and brought up in Rajinder Nagar, but the AAP candidate who earlier lost the election in Karawal Nagar is being forced on Rajinder Nagar. And by the time he (Pathak) will even understand local issues, the two-and-a-half-year term will end.”

AAP candidate Durgesh Pathak said residents of Rajinder Nagar want to vote for Kejriwal’s candidate because his government has ensured a bright future for their children.

“Parents are very happy with the progress their children are making in studies. They say children have already started discussing entrepreneurship and employment with them. People are happy they no longer have to care about expensive schools with exorbitant fees,” he said.