Capital drive: Dust rises as nominees hit trail in Delhi

In one of the public meetings at Seelampur, Samajwadi Party leader Sultan Ahmed declared that he was joining the Congress as it was the only party which could combat communal forces.

Promising to free his constituency from squalor, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate for the Chandni Chowk constituency, Vijay Goel said he would justify the trust reposed in him by the residents of the area. Akhlaq Khan, a local Muslim leader also joined hands with the party and accompanied Goelwho went door to door while campaigning in the Muslim dominated localities.

Not to be left behind, J P Agarwal, the Congress candidate in the constituency also tried out door-to-door campaigning. He addressed several corner meetings, wherein he pointed out that despite a majority in the Delhi Assembly, the BJP had failed to bring any succour to the residents. The party had not even spent five per cent of its budget on Muslim communities, he said.

Meira Kumar, the Congress nominee for the Karol Bagh constituency also lashed out at the BJP for misleading the masses. Kumar held several public meetings in her constituency and also attended the Akhand Path at Baljit Nagar during the day.

Meanwhile, former finance minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the elction campaign of Ajay Maken, the Congress candidate for South Delhi constituency. He also opened several election offices in his constituency and visited the gurudwara in Narang Colony, where he was given a saropa and was weighed in coins.

Congressnominee for the Sadar constituency, M M Agarwal, also went on a padyatra in the Teliwara area and contacted several prominent leaders and social workers in the area. His wife Prabha Agarwal also campaigned in the constituency today.

Deep Chand Sharma, Congress candidate from Outer Delhi, addressed more than two dozen corner meetings in his constituency. He stated that the BJP candidate had no idea about the problems of JJ dwellers, residents of unauthorised colonies and urbanised villages in the area as he had never bothered to visit the constituency.