Lok Sabha elections 2019| ‘Congress is not in race here, fight is only between AAP and BJP’: Gugan Singh

A native of Bawana, the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) North West Delhi Lok Sabha candidate, Gugan Singh, 70, is a known Dalit face of the party.

Singh was elected from Bawana on the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ticket in the 2013 assembly polls. But in the 2015 assembly elections, he was defeated by AAP’s Ved Prakash from the same seat. He switched over to AAP when the saffron party denied him a ticket ahead of the 2017 Bawana bypolls. Singh, 70, who had started campaigning in his vast constituency way before his rivals from other parties, says the BJP is an “anti-Dalit” party and the Congress is not in a contest in Delhi. Excerpts from an interview.

Q. You fought the last election on a BJP ticket from Bawana in the 2015 assembly polls and now you are contesting from AAP. How different do you find this election on the ticket of a party that is so different from BJP?

A. The BJP is truly a Manuwadi party and there is no respect and representation of people belonging to the Dalit and minority communities. I felt this when I was a member of the saffron party. The BJP is an anti-Dalit party while in AAP people from these communities are given due respect and there is no discrimination. AAP fights elections on people’s issues while the BJP relies on money and muscle power.

Q. Sitting MP Udit Raj, who recently joined the Congress, is considered to have a ground-level cadre in the area. He is campaigning for Congress’s Rajesh Lilothia. How is this going to affect your prospects?

A. The fight is only between two parties in North West – AAP and the BJP. The Congress is not in the contest and they are no more than a vote-cutter party. People, who want welfare of the country, have pledged to defeat Modi and vote for AAP. People understand the difference between a real challenger and a ‘vote-cutting’ party. We are the real challenge for the BJP in Delhi and voters also understand this as in other states too they are supporting only those parties that are defeating the BJP. Also, there is no Modi wave. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is fighting elections on fake issues.

Q. What do think about BJP candidate Hans Raj Hans and Congress’s Rajesh Lilothia?

A. Both are parachute candidates.They both lack geographical, social and economic understanding of the region. They are not aware of basic issues in the area so both will turn out to be weak contestants. You cannot serve the people without any vision and understanding of their problems.

Q.You have been campaigning in your constituency for a long time, so what are the major issues here?

A. North West Delhi had been deprived of development. Little has been done in the name of development as compared to other areas of the national capital. Bringing this constituency to the mainstream of development will be one of my agendas. Lack of basic facilities such as hospital, higher education, security, and infrastructure are key issues here.

Q. What are your top three priorities for the region?

A. Construction of hospitals and higher education institutes, making the police people-friendly and to ensure Delhi’s land be used for the benefit of Delhi’s people only will be the areas I will focus upon. The area MP is the chairman of Thana-Level Committees so within the constitutional framework, an MP can do a lot in improving policing. And above all, we will fight for full statehood for Delhi. With help of grand alliance government at the centre, we will ensure Delhi gets full statehood.

Q. Your constituency is a mix of farmlands, unauthorised colonies, slums and middle-income urban neighbourhoods. Which of these is your stronghold?

A. I have been active in the constituency for the past year, ever since I was made in charge of this constituency. I have met people in all the 10 assembly constituencies and 47 wards and all I got was support for AAP. It has a strong vote base in all regions.