Dantewada is one of the prospective winning seats for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as the popular sentiment is against Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress candidates, believes Sanjeev Jha, AAP Member of Delhi Legislative Assembly from Burari and party General Secretary.
People are seeing AAP as an alternative as its candidate Ballu Singh is a teacher who has served the region for around 25 years, reasoned Jha in an interview to DH.
On his return from a five-day election campaign in Dantewada, Jha said the region is iron-ore rich and now the locals feel that both Congress and BJP had only exploited them and had not given them what they deserved in return.
Highlighting the prevailing sentiment, the star campaigner for the AAP said, “People are angry with the sitting MLA from Congress for not reaching out to people of remote areas and providing them succour, while the BJP candidate and former MLA is known to strike terror among the villagers. But now with one among them and known to them becoming a candidate, it will provide an upper hand to the AAP.”
“Yes, we lack resources of the BJP and the Congress. So, we are working with the locally available and limited resources. We also fear that the voting pattern can be changed in case heavy funds are infused by other parties. But the popular sentiment is for change. People have started to connect with AAP," he argued.
Youth in a bind
On the development scene in Dantewada, Jha said: “The region lacks basic amenities like education, healthcare, road connectivity and in Maoist infested areas, other problems prevail as the administration is unable to reach remote areas. The youth are caught between the Maoists and police. Unemployment and poverty prevails.”
He noted that people living in remote villages are losing faith in the government due to the conflict situation and benefits of government schemes not reaching them. There is an urgent need for education and healthcare facilities and AAP would like to replicate its work in these sectors in Delhi on top priority.