New Delhi: Delhi has 675 slum clusters housing over 15.5 lakh people who make up about 10 percent of the electorate, making them a crucial voter base in the national capital. With the Delhi polls just three weeks away (February 5), political parties have turned their attention to this influential demographic. In the three-way contest for the Delhi Chief Minister’s chair, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Congress have all cast their nets, competing fiercely to win over the residents of these areas. 

The AAP aims to retain its core voter base of slum-dwellers, while the BJP seeks to make inroads into this non-traditional stronghold. Meanwhile, the Congress strives to reclaim support lost to the AAP over the past decade, by conducting door-to-door surveys and interaction in the slums. 

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated 1,667 newly constructed flats for the dwellers of Jhuggi Jhopri (JJ) clusters, handed over keys to eligible beneficiaries at Swabhiman Apartments in Ashok Vihar and jumpstarted the key campaign rhetoric. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah joined in with his address to the ‘Jhuggi Basti Pradhan Sammelan’ here, pledging that every slum dweller would be provided a house if the BJP wins the polls. The BJP has been leveraging the ‘Sheesh Mahal’ moniker to criticise Kejriwal, accusing him of corruption and living a lavish lifestyle in the 6, Flagstaff Road bungalow during his tenure as Delhi CM, while the poor continue to struggle under AAP’s governance. 

The BJP has time-and-again reiterated the Prime Minister’s welfare schemes, ranging from loans and housing to ration and cooking gas. Meanwhile, the AAP has criticised the BJP for demolitions in slums across Tughlakabad, Okhla, Sundar Nagari and other areas ahead of the 2023 G-20 Summit. 

However, the saffron party started course correction soon after claiming all seven seats in Lok Sabha elections, last year and launched the ‘Jahan Jhuggi Wahan Makaan’ scheme, which the AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has termed an ‘eyewash’. The former Delhi CM also said that the BJP has plans to ‘demolish all the slums and acquire the land’ shortly after the polls are over. 

“They want your votes first and your land after the elections,” Kejriwal said, referring to the BJP. At an event in Shakur Basti on Sunday, Kejriwal challenged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to sign an affidavit guaranteeing houses for slum dwellers and withdrawing related cases, vowing not to contest the upcoming elections if Shah agrees. 

The Congress, on the other hand, is in search of a sturdy poll plank. Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, is set to launch the party’s campaign on Monday with a high-profile “Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan” rally in Zero Pushta, Seelampur — a locality known for its slums and unauthorised colonies. To bolster its outreach, the party has enlisted the support of former MLA and influential Dalit leader Veer Singh Dhingan, alongside ex-AAP MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam, aiming to strengthen its position within key voter segments. 

Delhi’s slums are mainly home to migrants from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan, representing various communities. Many of these residents benefit from the AAP’s welfare schemes, such as free electricity and mohalla clinics. The AAP government provides 200 units of free electricity and 20,000 liters of free water per month to each household. It also promises Rs 2,100 per month for eligible women under MMMSY. 

The BJP has raised the stakes, promising to maintain all existing AAP schemes and even enhance them. It suggests increasing free electricity units to 300 and offering Rs 2,500 per month to eligible women. 

Congress has also made its own promises. It plans to give Rs 2,500 to women and Rs 8,500 to educated unemployed youth for one year. The grand old party also guarantees a health insurance cover of Rs 25 lakh under the ‘Jeevan Raksha Yojana’. 

Whose approach will yield fruitful results will be revealed on February 8 after the counting of votes. While the BJP and Congress aim to return to power, AAP is eyeing its third consecutive term. In 2020, AAP secured 62 of the 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly.

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