‘Kejriwal sops fine, but vikas poor’: BJP dents AAP’s Purvanchali vote bank

While Purvanchalis played a key role in ensuring the AAP’s landslide victory in the Delhi Assembly polls in 2015 and 2020, this time there are indications that a section of them may lean towards the BJP.

The Purvanchali voters are considered to be a significant factor in about 20 of Delhi’s 70 seats. The BJP has given tickets to about five Purvanchali candidates besides allotting one seat each to its NDA allies from Bihar – the Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas). The JD(U)’s Delhi unit chief Shailendra Kumar is contesting from Burari while LJP(RV) leader Deepak Tanwar is in contention from the SC-reserved Deoli seat.

On its part, the AAP has fielded about 10 Purvanchali candidates from across the city.

In Burari, where the AAP has again fielded its sitting MLA Sanjeev Jha, nearly 40% voters are Purvanchalis. A resident of Jharoda area in the constituency, Premnath Sharma, who is from UP’s Ballia, says, “I felt bad when Arvind Kejriwal said BJP is enrolling fake voters from UP and Bihar. Having lived in Delhi for 35 years, I am more a Delhi resident now than a Purvanchali. How can I be called a fake voter and then the AAP releases a campaign song in Bhojpuri to impress us.”

Sharma also disapproves of the derogatory remark that BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla made about AAP spokesperson Rituraj Jha during a TV debate. After the JD(U) demanded action against him for “hurting the Purvanchali sentiments”, Poonawalla expressed his apology. Seizing on the row, Kejriwal accused the BJP of “leaving no stone unturned to insult Delhi’s Poorvanchali community”.

Sharma, however, says he would vote for the JD(U) candidate to “strength” the BJP. “I want a government in Delhi like that of Yogi Adityanath’s in UP, who developed infrastructure, improved law and order and protected Hindus irrespective of their regional background. There are Biharis and migrants of other states living in UP but Yogi never made such remarks against them,” he says.

Sharma had voted for the AAP in 2015 and 2020, but would switch loyalties due to “lack of vikas (development)” in the city. He says, “Kejriwal did not develop our area. Besides pollution, the roads are in poor condition.”

Another Jharoda resident Ajay Singh, who hails from Ayodhya, says he “gets hurt by anti-Purvanchali remarks”, but would vote on the issue of basic amenities. “We want good roads and clean water and air, but not getting it. I voted for AAP in 2015 and 2020, but this time I will do it for NDA.”

Bhagat colony in Burari’s Sant Nagar area is dominated by migrants from Bihar. A local resident, Santosh Kumar, who is from Bihar’s Gopalganj, says he is not concerned over the slugfest between the AAP and the BJP over “derogatory remarks against Purvanchalis”. Santosh says he would vote for the NDA because the rail and road links from Delhi to Gopalganj have improved under the Narendra Modi government. “To travel to Gopalganj every month to meet my parents, I board a train from Delhi and get down at Gorakhpur, which has been developed like a metro city by the Adityanath government. All the trains and stations from Delhi to Gorakhpur are marked with cleanliness. From Gorakhpur, I take a highway route to reach my village.”

His neighbour Neeraj Pandey, a 56-year-old migrant from Bihar’s Arrah, says the AAP was “showing concern for Purvanchalis in election time”. “AAP is not resolving the problems of air pollution and contaminated water. Freebies will not solve these problems. They want us to get ill because of pollution and then ensure our free treatment in mohalla clinics. Also, the categorisation of Purvanchalis as a chunk of voters cannot be appreciated. Why I am not a Dilli-wallah for them after living here for three decades,” he says.

On whether he would back the BJP, Neeraj says: “BJP is a better alternative among all bad options available. I am not sure BJP will develop roads here. But only BJP has a nationalist agenda. AAP is winning election with support from JJ colonies where poor people are concerned about their daily life challenges like food and livelihood. But there is a larger world outside JJ colonies. If voters from middle and upper classes come out to vote, BJP would win.”

The AAP however continues to enjoy Purvanchali support across Sangam Vihar. A resident of Ratiya Marg there, Prakash Kumar, a government employee from Arrah, says he is not concerned about the row involving the Purvanchali sentiments. “For me, what matters is the point that Kejriwal has developed our backward locality. He has provided facilities like free medical treatment and electricity,” he says. On the poor condition of roads outside his house, he says, “That is because Jal Board has laid down a new water pipeline a few weeks ago. Now, we will get better water supply after elections.”

His neighbour Jagannath, a retired engineer from Bihar, justifies the AAP’s welfare sops. “AAP is at least giving something in return to voters in the form of schemes. What did the BJP and Congress governments give besides inflation and taxes? Kejriwal is at least giving some relief in the form of cash doles, free electricity and water. BJP and Congress who earlier criticised Kejriwal are now following in his footsteps and are promising freebies themselves.”

Jagannath says that with the help of local AAP MLA Dinesh Mohaniya he got his registration for a tap water connection from the newly laid water pipe line. “Since the Congress regime, we were getting water from unauthorised connections. Now, it will change if AAP comes to power,” he says.

Another Sangam Vihar resident Lalman Verma, from Ayodhya, says: “Leaders are invoking Purvanchali sentiments to get votes. I didn’t

like the remarks of both Kejriwal and BJP spokesperson. They should abstain from such remarks. But no party is sensitive to people’s regional background. For them, we are only voters who they want to appease with fake narratives.” He however says he would vote for the BJP for its “Hindutva politics”.

Abhiram Jha, 62, migrated to Delhi from Madhubani two years back as the residents of his village stopped buying ration from his grocery shop after the Modi government extended its free ration scheme. Jha, who runs an eatery in Sangam Vihar, says: “AAP’s strength is schemes but its government has not developed basic infrastructure. Waterlogging is a major problem. Modi government is at least developing infrastructure like roads, highways and railways. His government has controlled crime in Delhi and terrorism across the country. BJP is my first choice.”

A tea-seller in the neighbouring Deoli seat, Raman Pal, 32, who is from Kanpur, has just become father of a newborn. He says he would vote for the BJP in “national interest”. “AAP’s sops are a temporary relief for us but that is not for my next generation, which will be secure when the country is strong and prosperous.”