Constituency watch: At Shakur Basti, this election could see a close contest too

On the other hand, Dr Vats (75) won the seat in 1983 (Metropolitan Council), 1998 and 2003. The Congress has fielded Dev Raj Arora (64).

The name Shakur Basti is deceptive as the area is dominated by posh localities of Pitampura, Saraswati Vihar and Meera Bagh. There are some old refugee colonies in Rani Bagh and Multan Nagar, and a few jhuggi clusters near Shakur Basti railway station and Peeragarhi camp. The area has a large presence of Punjabi voters, as well as Purvanchalis.

In the 2015 election, Jain had beaten Dr Vats by 3,133 votes. While Dr Vats is showcasing the infrastructure work he carried out in the area, Jain is focusing on social welfare schemes championed by AAP this time.

Rahul Sharma (36), who works at a shop, said, “I support the BJP because they have done a lot for the country… like cleaning of the Yamuna and Ganga.”

Shopkeeper Rakesh Choudhary (40) said “Thanks to AAP, electricity and water is free, and they have also done a lot in education, health, teerth yatra for senior citizens.”

Unlike in certain other areas, the BJP’s campaign here had focussed on development rather than larger national issues.

The constituency’s political profile can be judged from the fact that Kejriwal has campaigned here twice in support of Jain. For BJP, union ministers including Amit Shah and CMs of Haryana, Himachal and Uttarakhand have campaigned.

The constituency has over 1.63 lakh voters and 143 polling booths. In 2015, it had seen a voter turnout of 72 per cent.