In GK, civic issues belie idea of opulence

Synonymous with affluent markets and upscale residential areas, the Greater Kailash assembly constituency is one of the wealthiest seats in Delhi, largely covering an area where large houses, fancy boutiques meet tree-lined streets.

- Jignasa Sinha and Sanjeev Kumar Jha

NEW DELHI:

But beneath the shimmering veneer of elegance, the seat is a study in contrasts. For its nearly 200,000 voters, a web of festering civic woes - irregular water, sewage woes, poor traffic management, narrow and dug-up streets, parking issues, and waterlogging - will form the crux on which their vote will swing.

The electorate of the seat comprises several prosperous neighbourhoods - Greater Kailash 1, Greater Kailash 2, and Panchsheel Park - along with upper-middle class locales such as Chittaranjan Park, Masjid Moth, Asiad Village and Kailash Colony, among others.

Beside these upscale areas are urban villages such as Zamrudpur and Shahpur Jat, along with slum clusters such as Jagdamba Camp. Together, they expose the uneven realities of this wealthy seat. The seat has 187,873 voters - 98,891 men, 88,973 women, and nine people from the third gender.

The constituency is represented by Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj - a three-time MLA who has won the seat in every assembly election since 2013 with a margin of at least 13,000 votes.

As the February 5 assembly elections approach, Bharadwaj faces a fresh set of challenges from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor Shikha Rai, whom he defeated in 2020, and Congress candidate Garvit Singhvi. This high-stakes contest is under-pinned by simmering civic issues that could redefine voter loyalties.

For Bharadwaj, these elections are a test of his legacy.