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Exclusive: BJP’s Rajesh Bhatia Confident of Defeating ‘Outsider’ AAP Candidate in Rajinder Nagar Bypoll
BJP candidate Rajesh Bhatia spoke to India.com in an exclusive interview ahead of the high-stakes Rajinder Nagar bypoll 2022. Photos: Left – Rajesh Bhatia Twitter, Right – Kritika Bansal/India.com
New Delhi: Residents of Rajinder Nagar assembly constituency are all geared up for the bypoll set to be held on Thursday (June 23), while the counting of votes will take place on Sunday (June 26). As the campaign for the MLA election came to an end on June 21, both the major contenders the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were confident of their victory in the Rajinder Nagar bypoll.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP – which was the ruling party in Rajinder Nagar until former MLA Raghav Chadha became a Rajya Sabha MP – won the 2019 Delhi Assembly Elections by a landslide. This time though, Rajinder Nagar residents are not voting for electing a chief minister, they are voting for the MLA they think will be best for their area. So, the stakes are high for both parties as the BJP has fielded former general secretary of the party’s Delhi unit, Rajesh Bhatia.
According to India.com ground report, the AAP’s campaign revolved around getting votes from Kejriwal supporters, with their tagline for Rajinder Nagar bypoll being – “Kejriwal ki sarkaar, Kejriwal ka vidhayak (Kejriwal government, Kejriwal MLA)”. An e-rickshaw with AAP’s hoarding could be heard playing the jingle “Lage raho, lage raho, Kejriwal”. (Photo: Kritika Bansal/India.com)
While most posters only had Arvind Kejriwal’s face on them with the same tagline, there were some posters that also featured AAP’s MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak. AAP posters in Old Rajinder Nagar market area (Photo: Kritika Bansal/India.com)
The AAP said it will inflict a crushing defeat to the BJP and will record a ‘historic victory’ in the bypoll. However, with Rajesh Bhatia’s popularity in the Rajinder Nagar area, along with top BJP leaders such as East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir, North East Delhi MP Major Tiwari, and Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi campaigning for him, the AAP could face a very tough competition in the area or even lose the seat. Unlike the AAP, most posters put by the BJP in Rajinder Nagar area featured only Rajesh Bhatia’s face while in some instances his picture along with PM Narendra Modi’s picture were also spotted on some posters. (Photo: Kritika Bansal/India.com)
Meanwhile, Durgesh Pathak had no shortage of support as top AAP leaders such as Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha campaigned for him. Further, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal held several roadshows in the area. So, it will very interesting to see who wins the Rajinder Nagar seat on June 26. Will the residents vote for the work of the Kejriwal government or their former councillor from PM Modi’s party? Only time will tell. (Photo: Kritika Bansal/India.com)
While we know where the AAP stands as it has already said it’s confident of defeating the BJP, here’s what BJP candidate Rajesh Bhatia thinks about the outcome of the upcoming bypoll. Speaking to Senior Sub Editor for India.com, Kritika Bansal, in an exclusive interview ahead of the Rajinder Nagar bypoll, Rajesh Bhatia said he is a hundred per cent confident that his party will win the election. Several posters of the BJP featured a picture of Rajesh Bhatia with the following tagline, “Humme chahiye sthananiye nivaasi. (We want a local resident)”. The BJP’s main strategy in Rajinder Nagar is to ask them to vote for a resident as its MLA, who has lived and worked here, as opposed to an outsider. Reiterating that Dugesh Pathak, who came to Delhi from Gorakhpur a few years ago, is an outsider, Rajesh Bhatia said he has lived here since birth and worked for the people in the area. “The AAP candidate is not even a voter from our area. He lost from Karawal Nagar, ran away from there and came here. He doesn’t have a base here. And I’m living here since birth. I’ve worked here as a councillor,” he told India.com.
The bypoll was necessitated as AAP’s Raghav Chadha resigned from the Delhi Assembly after he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab. Being a former MLA, a resident of the area, and a popular leader of the Kejriwal government, Raghav Chadha was campaigning in support of AAP’s Durgesh Pathak. When asked whether the BJP is confident of winning the poll despite Raghav Chadha’s popularity here, Rajesh Bhatia said, “Raghav Chadha has no support here. He ran away from here. The public elected him and he deserted them in the middle (of the term).” When asked what he thinks about Raghav Chadha’s work as an MLA from Rajinder Nagar in his two-year term, Rajesh Bhatia said, “He did nothing in two years. He was never here. Neither could anybody meet him. He was not connected with the public. Whereas I am well connected with the people here. I always used to sit in my office by the main road.” When asked if his biggest rival, AAP candidate Durgesh Pathak, is competent, Rajesh Bhatia said, “He lost in Punjab before AAP came there. Then he lost in Karawal. He doesn’t have any base.” “The people are angry with Kejriwal government that earlier they gave a chance to an outsider and now they’re fielding another outsider. AAP workers themselves are angry (with the party),” he told India.com.
On what would be the major issues that he would try to solve if he won the bypoll, Rajesh Bhatia promised that his focus would be on solving the shortage of clean drinking water in the area. He added that there are “a lot of issues” that he would tackle such as the parking problem in the area, no sports complex for young children in the area, etc. However, the “major issue”, he said, is the “water crisis”. Further, Rajesh Bhatia said that while the issue of stray dogs in the area comes under the MCD, he will do whatever he can to solve it.
About BJP candidate Rajesh Bhatia: Rajesh Bhatia had earlier been a councillor from Rajinder Nagar from 2012 to 2017 and standing committee chairperson of the North MCD. He rose through the ranks in the party by starting off as president of the Rajinder Nagar Mandal Yuva Morcha from 1985-88. Bhatia then went on to become BJP mandal general secretary from 1988-91 and Karol Bagh district president from 2010 to 2013.
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