New Delhi: The last few days have been extremely hot in Delhi, by noon the tree-lined roads in posh areas became empty, but everything is going on normally in Jaffrabad, East Delhi.
The unruly traffic is punctuated by the din of shoppers in narrow streets with little space between homes and shops — India’s most densely populated district was as busy as ever.
Four years ago, these were the same roads that were ravaged by groups of violent mobs when protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) led to communal violence that left at least 53 people dead and hundreds injured. Were injured.
As Delhi prepares to vote on May 25, the impact of the February 2020 riots will be a key factor in determining the outcome in the East Delhi parliamentary constituency, where Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-backed Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar will contest. It is from Manoj Tiwari of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who had won both 2014 and 2019.
Sanjay, a resident of Chand Bagh, an area that saw severe Hindu-Muslim violence in the 2020 riots, said, “We just know what we have gone through and are still experiencing it today . “They are slowly taking over our neighborhood as Hindu families are leaving one by one.”
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Sitting in his small grocery shop next to houses owned by Muslims, Sanjay spoke to ThePrint in a calm tone, revealing a sense of anxiety and mistrust between the two communities in the colony, which has people of both religions. Live.
Across the road, in Yamuna Vihar, there are similar sentiments. More of a working-class, mixed-faith area, Yamuna Vihar is home to predominantly Hindu families, many of whom rent out their homes to coaching centers preparing students for competitive exams.
A lawyer, on condition of anonymity, said the BJP is likely to get the maximum votes from locals in Yamuna Vihar. He accused the AAP-Congress of inciting riots, repeating the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called for violence while addressing a rally at Shastri Park last Saturday.
Accusing the AAP-led Delhi government of indulging in “vote jihad”, Modi said, “When the CAA was introduced, they first held the city hostage for two months and then unleashed riots.” These attempts to stir up communal tension resonate widely in the region, where the wounds of the riots are still fresh.
For instance, Rajesh Verma, a goldsmith in Karawal Nagar in the constituency, one of the sites of violence in 2020, was categorical that his family would vote for Modi “despite the slowdown in the market and rising prices, which have made life miserable for lower middle class people like him”.
![Rajesh Verma at his shop. Photo: Sourav Roy Barman, ThePrint](https://static.theprint.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Rajesh-Verma.jpg?compress=true&quality=80&w=1600&dpr=0.7)
Verma said, “You see, people consider big things while voting in the Lok Sabha elections. No Prime Minister has raised the stature of the country as much as Modi. He has fulfilled the dream of millions of people by constructing Ram temple in Ayodhya. Broken roads, dirty tap water, inflation are issues which he cannot solve, but anyway these have to be heard by local leaders and not by him (Modi).”
The name of BJP candidate Tiwari, a popular Bhojpuri singer and actor who won the 2019 election by defeating Congress’ Sheila Dixit by over three lakh votes, rarely comes up in conversations. Some say he is an affable person, while many complain about his performance, adding that their vote “will not be for Tiwari, or even the BJP, but for Modiji”.
Many of these voters supported the AAP in the assembly elections, as is evident from the Arvind Kejriwal-led party’s performance in the assembly constituencies of the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. Of the 10 assembly constituencies in East Delhi in the 2020 assembly elections, held a few weeks before the riots, the AAP won seven, while the BJP bagged the rest.
The Kanhaiya camp, aided by AAP’s organizational presence, is well aware of the challenge posed by such voting behaviour. Dinesh Choudhary, who is the office in-charge of AAP councilor Gagan Choudhary of municipal ward Jharoda, said the challenge is compounded by the fact that many AAP voters, who are not literate, identify the party by its election symbol — the broom.
Dinesh said, “By going to every corner meeting or door-to-door, we are distributing pamphlets which clearly state that a vote given to the hand (Congress symbol) will be a vote to the broom. We are asking them not to get confused after seeing our election symbol at the polling station.”
For Muslims, the choice appears simple, with an overwhelming majority of voices from the community, irrespective of age groups, favoring Kanhaiya, a former Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union president, who contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election against Union Minister Giriraj Singh from Bihar’s Begusarai district. Fought, but lost by 4.2 lakh votes.
In Matke Wali Gali near the Jaffrabad metro station, under which the anti-CAA protests took root, leading to the riots, Mohammad Azhar, a young textile trader, feels Kanhaiya is the most deserving candidate for any party to field on this seat.
![Matke Wali Gali near Jafrabad metro station | Photo: Sourav Roy Barman, ThePrint](https://static.theprint.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Matke-Wali-gali.jpg?compress=true&quality=80&w=1600&dpr=0.7)
Azhar said, “Is Kanhaiya a Muslim? We are supporting him because he is a thoughtful, rational person who raises important issues. Just listen to his speeches and interviews. He is educated. Even educated Hindus will vote for Kanhaiya. “I heard people talking about him in the nearby park this morning.”
While many find Kanhaiya’s oratory appealing, some, like Shamsuddin, who is several years older than Azhar, believe that the “rift in Hindu-Muslim harmony” can be repaired by getting the Congress to win.
![Shamshuddin | Photo: Sourav Roy Barman](https://static.theprint.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Shamshuddin.jpg?compress=true&quality=80&w=1600&dpr=0.7)
Shamshuddin said, “I am very disappointed by the speeches that demonise Muslims. We have spent our whole lives working hard in this country and raising our families. This is our country too.”
In the conversation, what emerges prominently is that there is resentment in the community towards the Aam Aadmi Party since the riots took place.
“They (AAP) stayed away, played the role of a mute spectator during the riots. If they are not in alliance with the Congress in the next assembly elections, the AAP candidate from this area will lose,” said Umar, who works at a local bakery in Chauhan Bangar, adjacent to Jafrabad.
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Demographic count
Chauhan Bangar is one of the six civic wards where Muslim candidates fielded by the Congress won in the 2022 Delhi Municipal Corporation elections. In fact, the Congress candidate here defeated the AAP candidate by over 15,000 votes, which was the second-highest margin of victory in the election. The biggest margin of victory was in the Muslim-dominated Chandni Mahal ward, where the Congress defeated the AAP by over 17,000 votes.
About 30.5 percent of Delhi’s Muslims live in East Delhi district, most of which corresponds to the constituency of the same name. According to the 2011 census, the Muslim population in the district is 29.34 percent, slightly lower than Central Delhi, where the community’s population is 33.4 percent, but in absolute numbers (1.94 lakh) below Central East (6.58 lakh).
Roads in most parts of the constituency are potholed and littered with garbage, reflecting administrative neglect. People — especially in unauthorised colonies that have sprung up across the region due to the influx of migrants from Uttar Pradesh (especially in what is known as the Purvanchal region) and Bihar — complain of dirty tap water and civic apathy.
![Garbage-strewn roads are common across Northeast Delhi | Photo: Sourav Roy Barman, ThePrint](https://static.theprint.in/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/garbage.jpg?compress=true&quality=80&w=1600&dpr=0.7)
With the explosion of population — from 10.85 lakh in the 1991 census to 22.42 lakh in 2011, when the last census was conducted — the district has also seen a major change in its demography.
While the land-owning Tyagis, who are classified in the Bhumihar category, dominated the region in the past, it is the Purvanchalis who have emerged as the biggest leaders for political parties.
Tiwari is a Purvanchali, while the Congress is hoping to capitalise on Kanhaiya’s Bihari ancestry. One of the most popular Aam Aadmi Party MLAs in Delhi is Sanjeev Jha, a Purvanchali who represents the Burari assembly segment of the East Delhi Lok Sabha constituency.
Obstacles in Kanhaiya’s path
While the assembly election is a cakewalk for Jha, who has won the seat by big margins three times in a row, the same organisational machinery that works for him is finding it challenging to ensure a smooth passage for Kanhaiya, not just because of Modi’s popularity but also the student leader’s past, especially the sedition case against him.
Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who has been appointed observer for the Northeast-Delhi seat, told ThePrint in an interview last week that a “tough young man” Kanhaiya would wrest the seat from the BJP.
Pilot said, “He has been in charge of the National Students Union of India (NSUI). He has been working with the party. Of course he may have contested elections in another state, from another party, but that is a thing of the past. In the last few years, he has worked dedicatedly (for the Congress). He has been vocal on many issues and a lot of youngsters listen to him. The BJP has always targeted him, but the fact is that he is a strong speaker, he is a tough young man. With the alliance, the support base and the hard work we have done, we will win the seat.”
Soon after coming to power for the second time in 2020, it was the Kejriwal government that had given sanction to the Delhi Police to prosecute Kanhaiya and two others for allegedly raising anti-India slogans at an event in JNU in 2016. The CPI had then welcomed the decision, saying they were expecting a speedy judicial hearing instead of a media trial.
Moreover, there is a perception among a section of AAP workers that instead of localizing the elections, Kanhaiya is making Modi’s job difficult by targeting him in his speeches. In one of his recent speeches, Kanhaiya, referring to Modi’s Shastri Park rally, said, “I am just an MP candidate and the PM had to come here. Give me your blessings, I will bring the entire government to this side of Yamuna.”
Now, AAP workers have to save Kanhaiya from being branded “anti-national” by the BJP.
An AAP worker campaigning for Kanhaiya said, “We are telling people that these were mere allegations against him and the Supreme Court has given him a clean chit.” As things stand, the case has not reached any conclusion even in the lower court, let alone the apex court.
“What option do we have?” Ajesh Kumar, a goldsmith from Sant Nagar market in Burari, said, “Somewhere, we have to spoil the vote.” Therefore, we would prefer to vote for Modi. It is not that Congress can tackle inflation and create jobs magically. They (Muslims) say we are Modi people. then so be it.”
(Click here to read this report in English)
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