New Delhi: Kondli on the border with Uttar Pradesh is one of the very few constituencies in Delhi where the Congress is still a major factor. The narrow and garbage-filled lanes of the constituency is witnessing a close contest between Aam Aadmi Party's sitting MLA Manoj Kumar and former Congress MLA Amrish Singh Gautam.
With a little more than 1 lakh voters, Kondli, a small village in East Delhi, is reserved for the Scheduled Castes. AAP's Manoj Kumar won the seat in 2013 by nearly 7000 votes defeating Dushyant Kumar Gautam of the BJP.
While AAP and Congress are repeating their candidates, the BJP has a new face in Hukum Singh who is considered to have influence in only a few pockets of the seat.
The AAP has an edge over others from this seat as its residents feel that Arvind Kejriwal was not allowed to perform by the BJP and Congress. In fact youngsters in Kondli are still in awe of Kejriwal and consider him the best bet to improve the condition of their area.
Even though some people complained that AAP MLA did not visit then after winning in 2013, they still feel Kejriwal's party is better than its rivals. A few are also unhappy with the nine-month tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and view Congress as a corrupt party.
Like many other rural constituencies, Kondli too has bad roads, poor cleanliness and its residents claim to be paying inflated water and electricity bills.
"The AAP will win the seat. We have witnessed Congress and BJP governments and we should give a chance to someone new. Neither BJP nor Congress works here," says a youngster, Aditya.
"Either AAP or Congress should win from here. Only prices have risen under the BJP government. We are not receiving pension, what should we do," says a housewife Sarda.
People backing Gautam say he has a clean image and is approachable. "The Congress has done a lot of development work. AS Gautam has a clean image and is approachable as well," says Brahm Singh, a shop owner.
"The Congress government did a lot of work. Price of essential commodities have rose manifold in the BJP regime and corruption has also increased," says Seema, a school teacher.
Situation is however different outside the village as people want a BJP government.
"The BJP is the only hope. The Congress did nothing in its 15 years rule and AAP ran away in 49 days betraying people," says Mukhtar Ali.
With people from different walks of life have different priorities, it will be a close fight in Kondli but AAP certainly has an edge with the Congress snapping at its heals. The BJP is hoping that AAP and Congress will cut into each other's votes and help its candidate win the seat.
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