BJP's urban hold in Delhi may weaken

REDRAWING THE POLITICAL MAP

When delimitation of constituencies was undertaken in 2002, conventional wisdom in the BJP was that it would more accurately reflect the rapidly urbanising population, its core constituency.

That may or may not be true in the rest of the country, but in Delhi, the party has more to lose than gain.

The Assembly elections in December will see an altered political map that the BJP fears may not favour the party. "The delimitation in Delhi has taken place in such a way that it merges seats in places where the BJP is strong and splits seats where the Congress is strong," said a state BJP leader.

"Mainly, seats in outer Delhi and east Delhi have been split while those in inner Delhi have been merged. This means the BJP has an uphill battle in the Assembly polls," he said.

"For example, the Sarojini Nagar seat, which has been held by the BJP for a long time and was won by the Congress in the last elections by a narrow margin, has been merged into the New Delhi seat. In Badarpur, where the Congress is strong, three seats have been carved out of one.

These are Badarpur, Tughlakabad and Okhla. Hastsal, an outer Delhi seat, has been carved out into three seats "" Uttam Nagar, Vikas Puri and Palam.

"Karawal Nagar has been split into Karawal Nagar and Mustafabad, while Bhalaswa Jahangirpuri in east Delhi has been split into Burari and Badli. These have all been traditionally Congress areas," he added.

The BJP strongholds have been merged. The Hauz Khas seat has been dismantled and merged into Malviya Nagar. Tilak Nagar, a BJP stronghold, has been fused with Vishnu Garden, a BJP seat. Janakpuri, where the BJP is strong, has been tagged on to Dabri.