A peripheral shift in Delhi politics

The peripheral areas of the national capital have emerged as the political force in the upcoming elections. Through eight maps Abhishek Jha, Roshan Kishore and Nishant Ranjan capture this change in demography

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Delhi, through its history has been attacked and conquered many times. These have triggered migrations.

The last time such a large disruption occurred was during Partition when a large number of refugees from what is now Pakistan came to Delhi and eventually settled here. India's independence put an end to military conquests or politically triggered (such as during Partition) large episodes of migration.

But what the political did not do, the economic has been doing in the last seven decades.

Delhi's status as the national capital became an important magnet for attracting migrants from all parts of the country. The first wave of migrants were government employees who came to work for the nascent state as it started building and expanding its apparatus. A large number of them were accommodated in government colonies such as Rama Krishna Puram which were then on the outer fringes of the city. As economic activity expanded and private capital, both big and small, started its activities, workers from other parts of the country, first in manufacturing and then services came to the city in big numbers.

A lot of this migration, especially of blue-collared workers and their families, happened in the outer fringes of the city. Delhi has also seen students coming to the city to study (or prepare for competitive exams such as IAS) and eventually settling here.

To be sure, the metropolis has also forced some of its poorest people from the centre to the periphery over time, first through executive orders and then on orders of the courts.

Delhi's changing demographics, and the role of migration and economic transformation is a matter of interest for ethnographers and demographers.