North East Delhi candidates: Not-so-popular BJP MP up against former Cong CM and AAP’s Delhi convener

BJP MP actor Manoj Tiwari will face-off against former Chief Minister of Delhi Sheila Dikshit of the Congress party in North East Delhi.

North East Delhi Parliamentary constituency is comprised of 10 assembly constituencies: Burari, Timarpur, Seemapuri, Rohtas Nagar, Seelampur, Ghonda, Babarpur, Gokalpur, Mustafabad and Karawal Nagar. The constituency came into existence after a delimitation exercise. So far, two Lok Sabha elections held in 2009 and 2014 have seen winners from the Congress and BJP respectively.  

This constituency scores the lowest in terms of most Human development indicators. It has the highest number of jhuggi jhopri clusters in Delhi, with roughly 300 of the 800 slum clusters in the capital concentrated here. With 10 assembly segments, nine of them represented by the AAP, one would think AAP would be the favourite for this seat. But its candidate Dilip Pandey, 36, is up against “Vikas ki Devi,” Shiela Dixit, 81, of Congress, who was Delhi’s chief minister for 15 years and has been brought back by the party to wrest this seat from sitting MP Manoj Tewari of the BJP.

A total of 24 candidates are contesting from political parties and as independents from North East Delhi. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has rejected 39 applications for the constituency for various reasons.

According to the ECI website, the constituency has a total of 22,90, 492 voters.

[flexiblemap src=”http://data.opencity.in/Data/Delhi-Parliament-Constituency-North-East-Delhi-Map-V-1.kml” width=”100%” height=”400px” ]

Note – Map for representation purpose | Source – http://datameet.org

2014 Lok Sabha Elections

Incumbent MP: Manoj Tiwari

Name of candidate Party Votes secured Vote share (over total votes polled)
Manoj Tiwari BJP 5,96,125 45.23
Anand Kumar AAP 4,52,041 34.30
Jai Prakash Agarwal INC 2,14,792 16.30
NOTA 3,824 0.29

Source: ECI

Know your candidates

Manoj Tiwari (Bharatiya Janata Party)

Pic: Facebook

The incumbent BJP MP beat AAP’s Anand Kumar comfortably in the 2014 Lok Sabha contest. Previously with the Samajwadi Party, he had unsuccessfully contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from Gorakhpur in UP and joined the BJP in 2011. He was a successful actor in the Bhojpuri film industry prior to his entry into politics. 

More details can be found in the affidavit filed with the ECI here.

For more details on his performance in Parliament, click here.

Financial details of candidate:

Year Assets Liabilities
2014 6,95,81,924 (movable) +  12,99,02,000 (immovable) 3,46,45,630
2019 8,64,34,625 (movable) + 15,76,56,000 (immovable) 1,36,18,755

Source: MyNeta, ECI

Sheila Dikshit  (Indian National Congress)

Pic: Facebook

Shiela Dikshit is the longest serving CM of Delhi ever. Daughter-in-law of late veteran Congress leader Uma Shankar Dixit, Shiela Dixit lost the 1998 parliamentary elections contesting from East Delhi. But found unprecedented success when the Congress chose her to lead the challenge for the Delhi assembly in 2003. Her campaign emphasis has been on NYAY, the minimum income scheme mooted by Congress President Rahul Gandhi. “All the progress you see in Delhi so far is because of the Congress. The others have been misleading voters in the name of development,” she tells voters. Dixit replaces Jai Prakash Agarwal, who came third in 2014.

More details can be found in the affidavit filed with the ECI here.

Financial details of candidate:

Year Assets Liabilities
2019 3,04,62,565 (movable) + 1,88,23,200 (immovable) Nil

Source: MyNeta

Dilip Pandey (Aam Aadmi Party)

Pic: Facebook

Dilip Pandey, 36 is the convener of the Delhi unit of AAP which swept the state assembly elections in 2015 by winning 67 out of 70 seats.

More details can be found in the affidavit filed with the ECI here.

Financial details of candidate

Year Assets Liabilities
2019 9,73,393(movable) + 44,50,000 (immovable) Nil

Source: MyNeta

List of other candidates contesting in North East Delhi:

S. No Name Party Symbol Age Education Occupation
1 Rajveer Singh Bahujan Samaj Party Elephant 43 Intermediate Businessman
2 Ajay Bhai Right to Recall
Party
Auto Rickshaw 35 Class XII Businessman
3 Anuruddh Kumar Dubey Bharat Lok Sewak Party Electric Pole 39 Class X Travel agent
4 Abhinav Kumar Sanyukt Vikas Party Fridge 32 B.Sc Social Worker
5 Amit Sharma Sanjhi Virasat Party Apple 43 BA Self-employed
6 J K Jain Jai Prakash Janata Dal Diesel Pump 61 BA Teacher
7 Dan Bahadur Yadav Bhartiya Janta Dal (Integrated) Hat 43 BA Advocacy
8 Durga Prasad Challengers Party Tyre 53 BE Politician
9 Pradesh Kumar Sarvodaya Prabhat Party Bat 35 LLB Self-employed
10 Mahender Paswan Mazdoor Kirayedar Vikas Party Cylinder 41 Class IX Self-employed
11 Mukesh Aapki Apni Party Battery Torch 53 Diploma Pensioner
12 Manager Chaurasiya Socialist Unity Center of India Tumbler 51 Class XII Social Worker
13 Mohd. Irfan Bharat Prabhat Party Ludo 41 LLB Advocate
14 Sunil Vishwakarma Ambedkar National Congress Gramophone 47 Class X Businessman
15 Mohd. Hasan Republican Party of India Sewing Machine 44 Class XII Businessman
16 Md. Akram Independent Scissors 34 BDS Dentist
17 Anil Yadav Independent Hand Cart 27 BA Businessman
18 Amrendra Kumar Independent Cup and Saucer 30 Class X Self-employed
19 Mahfooz Khan Independent Table 42 Class VIII Labourer
20 Yogesh Swamy Independent Plastering Trowel 36 BA Journalist
21 S N Singh Independent CCTV 72 Advocate PhD

Issues of the constituency

Actor and popular Bhojpuri singer turned politician, Manoj Tiwari, 48, is perceived to have done little for the constituency, which is dotted with unauthorised colonies with a substantial Muslim population. “We have not seen Manoj Tiwari visit the constituency even once. He has spoilt Modi’s name,” said Mushtaq, a small businessman. And Congress candidate Shiela Dixit is targeting this segment. “Our pitch is for development for all communities,” is Shiela Dixit’s message.

Given the demographics of this constituency, the issues for voters are all very local. Better sanitation, better schools, better facilities. “Our area has lost a lot in the tug-of-war between the Centre and AAP… sanitation and garbage collection suffered,” said Ashwini Bhardwaj, a shopkeeper. Nasim Ansari, 33, an employee at a local bakery, said his concerns were employment and better schools. “This time, Muslims in this area will only vote for Sheila (Dikshit).” This despite Kejriwal and Pandey making a special effort by meeting Muslim leaders and leaders of other communities, with the slogan “na paise pe na daru pe, mohar lagege Jhadu pe.”

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