On Saturday evening, a sea of people holding aloft party flags — most of the Congress and a few of the AAP — made their way to the Ramlila Maidan in Ashok Vihar. They were supporters of the INDIA bloc, of which the Congress and AAP are a part, and were gathered at the ground to listen to Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, addressing a rally. A few AAP MLAs were at the event too.
Among the crowd was Raja Ram from Ashok Vihar JJ Colony, a long-time Congress supporter. “It’s been 55 years since I shifted to Delhi; I have been supporting the Congress since then.” Ram who retired as a motor mechanic last year has not been able to find a job since. He said he hopes that the inflation will reduce after the INDIA bloc wins the elections.
Amar Nath, 53, said, “We cannot deny the fact that Congress has done good work in the past, the BJP only makes people fight, they talk about Hindustan-Pakistan, Hindu Muslim, they’re the government of liars. Till when will the janta (people) support their lies?”
A few members of AAP’s youth wing were seen sitting amidst the crowd. Among them was Yogesh, a student preparing for UPSC and living in Mukherjee Nagar. “The alliance will receive full support in Delhi, What has the BJP done in the past 10 years? If it comes to schemes like Agniveer which will make the youth sit at home… then I will give them full credit,” he said sarcastically.
Supporters of Congress’s Chandni Chowk candidate J P Agarwal were present in large numbers. “The JP Agarwal ji that you see right now has worked day and night for the area, he has spent every waking moment working for the country. On the other hand, their (BJP) MP sends goons to beat Kanhaiya (Kumar) up. This is the difference between the candidates of the Congress and the BJP,” Amar Tripathi, 53, who runs a small business, said.
For Mohammad Ali, a Krishna Nagar resident, inflation and unemployment are major issues. “Despite completing a Masters, MPhil, PhD, youth don’t have jobs… we are doing private jobs for Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000… the BJP government has done nothing in the last 10 years… We want Rahul Gandhi to become PM and address this issue…”