The other 11 constituencies the Congress is eyeing include New Delhi, Seelampur, Kalkaji, Ballimaran, Nangloi Jat, Badli, Uttam Nagar, Mustafabad, Chandni Chowk, Matia Mahal and Babarpur.
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Of these, seven seats—Okhla, Seelampur, Ballimaran, Musatafabad, Babarpur, Chandni Chowk and Matia Mahal—are Muslim-majority areas.
Senior Congress leaders Sandeep Dikshit (New Delhi), Alka Lamba (Kalkaji), Devendra Yadav (Badli), and Mukesh Sharma (Uttam Nagar) are vying for four of the seats.
In Nangloi Jat, a constituency with a strong Jat presence, the Congress is banking on Jat votes, leveraging its support for the farmers’ protests and the wrestlers’ agitation. The party has nominated Rohit Chaudhary, a Jat leader and All India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary, as its candidate for the seat.
Meanwhile, back in Okhla, the Congress’s campaign, this time in a Dalit-dominated area, took a different approach.
Party workers here focused on how Rahul Gandhi was the first leader to raise the ‘Samvidhan Bachao’ (Save the Constitution) issue when some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders from Uttar Pradesh claimed they would change the Constitution if the party got more than 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls. Dalits mostly voted against the BJP in Uttar Pradesh on Rahul’s appeal, they added.
Though the Congress is eager to return to power in Delhi, the party’s short-term goal seems quite tactical. More than winning, the party is looking to weaken the AAP by chipping away at its vote share and lay the groundwork for its own future revival.
“We know that we are not going to form the government in Delhi but we want to damage the AAP as they have captured our space. Once they lose, we will get a space in a direct fight with the BJP till the next elections,” a senior Delhi Congress leader told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
“Our focus is to increase our vote percentage from 4.26 percent in 2020 to at least 12 percent. I have a feeling that in these polls, we are going to get half a dozen seats this time. We are hopeful a major chunk of Muslims and a section of Dalits will shift to Congress,” the leader added.
Also read: Delhi’s Muslim voters have ‘Congress in heart, but AAP in mind’. Will it benefit BJP
More focus on triangular contest seats
The stakes couldn’t be higher for the Congress.
The party won three consecutive Assembly elections before the rise of the AAP but failed to win even a single seat in the 70-member assembly in the last two elections. The AAP, which has been in power in Delhi since 2013 swept the last polls with 62 seats.
The party intends to intensify its efforts in these constituencies by organising more public meetings featuring star campaigners. Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi are also expected to join the campaign trail in these areas as the elections draw closer.
“Now Rahulji’s health is getting better. January 26 onwards, in the last leg of assembly polls, he and Priyankaji both will do public meetings and roadshows,” a senior Delhi Congress leader said to ThePrint.
In many constituencies, the fight is turning into a three-way battle between the AAP, the BJP and the Congress.
In the New Delhi constituency, for instance, the Congress is expecting a close triangular contest. Here, the party has fielded Sandeep Dikshit, son of former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, while the BJP has entered the fray with Parvesh Verma, son of another former chief minister, Sahib Singh Verma.
During his door-to-door campaign, Dikshit has been reminding people of his mother’s developmental work during her tenure as three-time chief minister of Delhi.
“I cannot make any claim on overall results in the Delhi assembly polls but Kejriwal is losing this seat for sure. He has made a fool of everyone for the past 11 years but now people are irritated with him,” Dikshit told ThePrint.
“Most likely both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi will be campaigning on my seat.”
The high-profile Kalkaji constituency is also gearing up for a tight three-way contest.
The Congress has fielded its women’s wing chief, Alka Lamba, to take on Delhi Chief Minister Atishi from Kalkaji. The BJP has nominated former MP Ramesh Bidhuri from the seat.
As the election campaign heats up, Congress leaders are hopeful Priyanka Gandhi will do a roadshow in Kalkaji to address Bidhuri’s controversial comments and Atishi’s performance.
Bidhuri sparked controversy when he said that if the BJP came to power, he would make the roads in Kalkaji “as smooth as Priyanka Gandhi’s cheeks”. He later apologised for his remarks.
Lamba, a former MLA from Chandni Chowk, has been taking sharp jabs at both Atishi and Bidhuri, even referring to the AAP candidate as a “dummy” chief minister.
The Congress leader said the party has not allocated additional funds for these targeted seats, but candidates receive extra budgetary support when Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi hold rallies.
In addition to extra financial support, the Congress has also roped in local leaders from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and other neighbouring states to campaign on these 12 seats.
Roadshows and chaupals in Muslim-dominated seats
As the Congress plays the long game, it’s focusing its energies on Okhla, Mustafabad, Ballimaran, Seelampur, Chandni Chowk, Babarpur and Matia Mahal where the Muslim population is between 25 percent and 50 percent. The AAP has held all these seats for the past 10 years.
The Congress has given charge of campaigning in these constituencies to leaders such as its minority department chief Imran Pratapgarhi, MP Imran Masood, AICC Delhi in-charge Qazi Nizamuddin and Salman Khurshid.
According to Delhi Congress functionaries, Pratapgarhi is holding roadshows and other Muslim leaders have been given the responsibility of holding small meetings and chaupals.
In the Okhla assembly constituency, the Congress has fielded 29-year-old sitting councillor Ariba Khan, daughter of former Congress MLA Asif Khan. She is pitted against the AAP’s Amanatullah Khan, who faces allegations of irregularities during his tenure as chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board between 2016 and 2021.
The Congress is focusing its campaign on local issues and cases lodged against Amanatuallah.
“This is the best chance for us to win this seat as Amanatullah’s image has been dented too much in the past few years,” said Asif Khan while speaking to ThePrint. “He has also not done any developmental work till now. Whenever anyone goes to him for some work, he makes excuses that the BJP is not making it happen. So, the common public is fed up with him now, it is our best chance to win this seat,” he added.
He explains that Okhla has over 50 percent Muslim votes and if the Congress gets a major chunk of the minority votes and a section of Hindu votes, including Dalits, it has a chance of winning this seat.
He also added that a large section of Muslims was likely to vote for the Congress because Kejriwal’s stand was not very “pro-minority” during the anti-CAA protests and Delhi riots.
Similarly, in Ballimaran, another Muslim-dominated seat, the Congress has fielded its former cabinet minister and five-term MLA Haroon Yusuf against the AAP’s sitting MLA Imran Hussain.
The Congress is focussing on raising local issues and the developmental work done during Yusuf’s tenure.
“We are also focussing on reminding people of ‘Sheilawali Delhi’ when both Hindus and Muslims were treated equally. We are telling Muslims how they are mistreated in the AAP’s tenure in the state and the BJP at the centre,” a senior Delhi Congress leader in Ballimaran told ThePrint.
The Congress is also hoping to undercut the ruling party by relying on AAP defectors such as Abdul Rehman in Seelampur and Asim Ahmad Khan in Matia Mahal.
In Seelampur, the party has fielded Abdul Rehman, a former AAP leader who won the seat in 2020 on an AAP ticket. The AAP has nominated Chaudhry Zubair Ahmad, son of former five-time Congress MLA Mateen Ahmed. Rehman accuses the AAP of being an “anti-minority” party.
In Matia Mahal, where the Muslim population is above 50 percent, the Congress has fielded Asim Ahmed Khan, another AAP defector, against Aaley Mohammad Iqbal, son of former AAP MLA Shoaib Iqbal.
Both Rahul and Priyanka are likely to campaign in Ballimaran and Seelampur.
“Giving tickets to AAP turncoats is a part of our strategy. They are going to minority areas and telling people how the whole ecosystem of the AAP is anti-minority. They did not take a strong stand during the anti-CAA protest,” a senior functionary in the Delhi Congress told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
“They are also highlighting the AAP’s pro-Hindutva image similar to the BJP. They are calling the AAP a B-team of the BJP. This may have an impact on minorities. On the other hand, we are distributing copies of the Constitution and our top leaders are raising issues of Dalit atrocities so we are hopeful for Dalits votes too.”
However, political analysts say the Congress’s approach might have a limited impact.
“It seems like the Congress is focussing on Muslims and Dalits more this time in Delhi, but the AAP is also well aware of it. They will make their strategies accordingly,” Tanvir Aeijaz, an associate professor at the University of Delhi and Vice-President of the Centre for Multilevel Federalism (CMF) at the Institute of Social Sciences, told ThePrint.
“The BJP’s floating voters may vote for the AAP as they are announcing so many freebies. The Congress may damage the AAP’s prospects on some seats but not too many. Still, this time the contests look closer and triangular on many seats. Anything could be possible.”
The election results will be declared on 8 February.
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