Veteran of many polls Prem Singh seeks fourth term in state Assembly

New Delhi, Nov 25 (UNI) He is the 'Bhisham Pitamah' of Delhi politics who has not lost a single election in the last 50 years while his BJP opponent has earlier lost against him in the last two consecutive assembly elections.

The Ambedkar Nagar assembly segment, where Congress leader and Delhi assembly Speaker Prem Singh is pitted against BJP's Suresh Pehalwan, is among the few seats where the Congress is confident of romping home in the November 29 polls to the State Assembly.

Having won from the constituency in the last three assembly elections, sitting MLA and assembly Speaker Prem Singh is looking for a fourth straight win riding on the development work done by him in the area.

Chaudhry Prem Singh, who won from the seat with record margins in the last three assembly elections, the Congress leader is optimistic of winning with a record margin this time as well.

Having served as development Minister in the Delhi Government for several years, Chaudhry Prem Singh has been presenting development as the main issue in his election campaign.

In course of electioneering, he has been emphasising that Ambedkar Nagar is the most developed rural area of Delhi.

In this context, his poll managers point out that in the last five years, Chaudhry Prem Singh has done a lot of work in the area for the development of roads and parks and improvement in water supply and drainage system in the area.

On the other hand, Chaudhry Prem Singh's opponent, Suresh Pehalwan of the Bharatiya Janta Party, who lost to him in the last two consecutive Assembly elections, hopes to make a dent in Prem Singh's citadel this time by cashing in on the resentment of the people of the area with the Ambedkar Nagar- BRT corridor.

Infact, in its campaigning, the BJP has been presenting the BRT corridor as the ''corridor of destruction''.

The BJP poll managers say their Government's first priority will be to cancel the BRT corridor.

It is notable that 15 people have died and several others injured after the Ambedkar Nagar BRT corridor was opened for trial runs a few months ago.

The other issues that Chaudhry Prem Singh's BJP opponent has been focussing on during his campaign are the fast running electronic meters and the paucity of drinking water in the area.

''If brought to power, the BJP will replace the fast running electronic meters,''Suresh Pehlwan's media manager S Nagarajan told UNI.

On the water issue, he says that the people of the area do not have adequate drinking water in their homes. What is worse, the pipelines of the Delhi Jal Board are also in a bad shape Unfazed by the impeccable record of the veteran Congress leader, Suresh Pehalwan is confident of his victory claiming that people want change.

''In the last 50 years, Chaudhry Prem Singh has destroyed the Ambedkar Nagar area. Now, people of the area have realised the truth and want a change,''he says.

Another factor that could add to Chaudhry Prem Singh's problems is the fact that post delimitation, Saket ward, which has been a traditional BJP stronghold, has been added to his constituency.

Weighing against him also is the fact that Deoli Gaon, a Congress stronghold, had gone to the BJP in last year's MCD polls.

However, Chaudhry Prem Singh is confident of being able to woo the voter in the Saket ward. At the same time, he is hoping that electorate in Deoli Gaon will vote for the Congress in these polls.

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