Hundreds of phones went up in the crowded Hari Nagar market as AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal took the stage Monday evening. In the houses above shops, men, women and children leaned out of balconies to hear what the former Delhi Chief Minister said. But his message during the padyatra in the Badarpur constituency was mostly for the women.
“I am putting all the women here on duty to tell all the women to vote for AAP. They should tell their men too. I always say women are smarter than men…The men vote for BJP sometimes,” he said.
AAP, as it announced the scheme to give women Rs 1,000 a month, is aware that women have been among its biggest supporters. A survey conducted by Lokniti-CSDS, on the eve of the 2020 Delhi Assembly polls, showed women were 11 percentage points more likely to have voted for AAP in the Assembly polls than men — 60% as opposed to 49%.
Speaking about the scheme, Kejriwal said, “Registration for mont-hly transfers of Rs 1,000 to women’s bank accounts will start in a few days. After elections, the amount will increase to Rs 2,100 a month… If you vote for BJP, the money will stop.”
Badarpur, where Hari Nagar is located, was won by BJP’s Ramvir Singh Bidhuri in 2020 by a margin of 3,719 votes.
Kejriwal said this difference also determined the work done in the constituency. “I have installed sewer lines in all of Delhi. But Badarpur remains because you voted for BJP last time,” Kejriwal said.
Bidhuri, who was the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, resigned in June after being elected from the South Delhi Lok Sabha seat.
AAP has now fielded Ram Singh Netaji, who joined the party in 2020, from the constituency. A two-time independent MLA, Netaji was a member of the BSP before he joined AAP.
In 2015, the AAP won the seat. Its MLA, Narayan Dutt Sharma, secured 27.93% of the vote share or 47,583 votes.
For several who came out to hear Kejriwal speak, AAP’s free power and water as well as the pitch about better education and healthcare still holds ground.
Khushnama, 32, a resident, said she was a beneficiary of the AAP’s policies. “We don’t have to pay bills for water and electricity because of Kejriwal. He has also made bus travel free for us,” she said, adding that her children study in a government school and her family gets free medicines from the mohalla clinic in the area.
Shanti Yadav (50), meanwhile, is skeptical of the promise of getting Rs 1,000 per month. “I will only believe it when I see the money in my account,” she said. Her biggest grouse is the clogged sewer line near her house. “We have to pay Rs. 100 every week to get the sewer lines cleaned because the government does nothing,” she said.
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