Hot Button 8 Parties Target CAA-hit Seats

Battle for Delhi AAP, Congress go all out to woo voters in 8 seats polarised by Citizenship Amendment Act protests

- Kumar Kunal & Neha Chandra

THE atmosphere in several parts of poll-bound Delhi has been surcharged by demonstrations and politics over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

With Shaheen Bagh protests into their sixth week and other localities also simmering, quite a few Assembly constituencies are experiencing ripple effects. No wonder, the battle for Delhi has intensified in at least eight seats where minorities are in sizeable numbers.

AAP and Congress are adopting distinct strategies to make political capital in these constituencies where Muslims account for about 15% of the electorate — a vote bank both parties feel BJP will not be able to tap.

The seats are Okhla (covering Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar), Seelampur, Mustafabad, Matia Mahal, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazaar and Kirari.

MAN-TO-MAN MARKING

The Assembly constituency-wise distribution of the 2019 Lok Sabha results showed Congress leading in five seats, all of which are Muslim-dominated, while AAP faced a complete washout. This, it seems, led AAP to rethink its strategy for the battle of 2020.

So is it AAP’s hardliners versus Congress’ moderates in these eight seats?

AAP has fielded controversial faces like Amanatullah Khan (Okhla), Shoaib Iqbal (Matia Mahal) and Abdul Rehman (Seelampur). They are known for their fiery speeches.

Khan remained controversial all through his five-year tenure as MLA and Waqf Board chief. He came into limelight again for his alleged hate speech during the recent Jamia protest whose video became viral.

On the other hand, Congress has brought out candidates who are seen to have secular appeal. It has fielded Parvez Hashmi, a former Delhi minister and MP known for his soft-spoken skills, from Okhla to counter Khan.