NEW DELHI: West Delhi, it seems, has all the potential to be Congress' New Delhi. While BJP had a tough time unravelling the Vijay Goel-Arti Mehra-Jagdish Mukhi conundrum in New Delhi, there is a mini-squall brewing within Congress over West Delhi the reason why sources say the party refrained from announcing a candidate for the seat on Saturday. The constituency in itself is a tricky one given its Jat-Punjabi combination which is hardly the winning recipe for the grand old party.
Both communities have traditionally voted against Congress. BJP's last-minute decision field Mukhi instead of Parvesh Verma from West Delhi, thereby risking Jat ire there is a severe backlash within the party's Jat ranks though will come as a huge plus for the ruling party.
Punjabis on the other hand still have a BJP-bias thanks largely to the partition hangover and for Sikhs' memories of the 1984 riots but the new generation, Congress insiders feel, could be turned round with some wooing. That job will just have been rendered more difficult by Mukhi who was voted to the assembly three times in a row from Janakpuri.
Which would explain the central leadership's reported "inclination'' to field noted Supreme Court lawyer K T S Tulsi from the seat. The name of senior lawyer R K Anand too is doing the rounds. But with at least two MLAs in the fray Mukesh Sharma of Uttam Nagar and Mahabal Mishra of Dwarka that is a ticket the party is definitely finding difficult to push through. More so since Sharma a Pandit is believed to have the blessings of chief minister Sheila Dikshit.
"Given the present situation we have a good chance of getting the Jat votes by default and some work on the ground. If we can corner at least some of the Punjabi votes too there are more Punjabis and Sikhs in the area than there are Jats concentrating on areas like Tilak Nagar and Uttam Nagar, we will be in a good position to win. Fielding a Sikh candidate would be a great ploy to drive away the ghosts of '84. The issue would be how to do so without upsetting local workers,'' explained a senior Congress leader.
Both Sharma and Mishra have had more than one stint in the Assembly and have a good base in their respective areas. Mishra is playing the Poorvanchali card to ask for a ticket but for Congress the real question is how much the two are capable of playing spoilsport if a candidate like Tulsi is "foisted'' on them. "Moreover after her third straight win, the chief minister's word cannot be taken lightly at all. So if she wants Sharma to get the ticket, the party will have a tough time refusing,'' said a source.
Incidentally, with its tally in all 10 Assembly segments coming to an 38.04% in the 2008 Assembly elections only place where it was second to the BJP figures at least show that the seat does have the potential to be Congress' Waterloo in the Lok Sabha polls.
