Unauthorised colonies, Shaheen Bagh, clean water sum up the Delhi elections

New Delhi, Feb 07: Delhi polls on Saturday and it has been a hard-fought battle. There were a couple of key issues that were debated during the election campaign.

The BJP stuck to a couple of issues that have been on the national domain, while the Aam Admi Party (AAP), on the other hand, kept it local.

Delhi has been marred by protests over the citizenship law and NRC. The BJP has gone to town with these issues trying to tell the people that these protesters are misguided and are only coming out in the open at the behest of unseen forces. The AAP, on the other hand, has spoken about water, health and electricity.

Whichever party comes to power, the key challenge would be clean water and unauthorised colonies. Further clearing the protesters from Shaheen Bagh would also be a major challenge as it has caused immense problems to the general public. There are many who have been spending four to five hours on the roads owing to these protests.

Last year there was a government study which revealed that Delhi's drinking water is the most unsafe in the country. The AAP government had come in for criticism for this. This issue was a major subject for debate during the campaign and whichever party comes to power will have to address this on a war footing.

The other issue is with regard to the unauthorised colonies in Delhi. A report had stated that there are 1,797 unauthorised colonies in Delhi. These colonies account to nearly a third of the population of Delhi. Last year, a bill to regulate these colonies was passed in the Lok Sabha. Both the BJP and AAP have claimed credit for it and it was also part of the election campaign.

The Shaheen Bagh protests are another key issue. There is a part in Delhi which is under a virtual lockdown due to these protests. Clearing the protesters would be a major headache for any party that comes to power. While law and order is under the control of the Union Home Minister, the new government in Delhi would need to find a solution so that the protests end in a peaceful manner.