Delhi polls: Another voter bloc that switched sides
To attract Purvanchalis, the BJP promised to build 1,000 more ghats, organise biannual festivals, allot land for community events
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 11 of 14 constituencies in Delhi dominated by migrants from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, known as Purvanchalis, an indication that a key bloc which overwhelmingly voted for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may have shifted loyalties.
Of the 14, the BJP won Dwarka, Laxmi Nagar, Karawal Nagar, Malviya Nagar, Patparganj, Rajinder Nagar, Rohtas Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Shalimar Bagh, Model Town and Vikaspuri.
This sweep left the AAP with Babarpur, Burari and Kirari — strongholds they have held since 2013.
That the BJP was pleased with this performance became evident in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s victory speech at the BJP headquarters. “During the campaign, wherever I went, I proudly said that I am an MP from Purvanchal. The people of Purvanchal today reinforced this relationship of love and trust with energy and strength. I thank the Purvanchalis of Delhi as a Purvanchali MP,” PM Modi said.
The man who is arguably Delhi’s best-known Purvanchali, actor, singer and member of Parliament Manoj Tiwari, seconded that. “The Purvanchalis have supported us and we thank them for it. We will continue to support our brothers and sisters and will ensure that we deliver on all our promises.”
To attract Purvanchalis, the BJP promised to build 1,000 more Chhath ghats, organise biannual Purvanchal festivals, allot land for community events, and start special festival trains and interstate buses for Chhath and other festivals.
To be sure, Purvanchali voters — who comprise nearly a third of Delhi’s population — are peppered across other seats as well, but granular data on their voting patterns was not immediately available.
Having migrated to the national capital between the late 1980s and 2000s, Purvanchalis faced decades of discrimination and abuse in their neighbourhoods and workplaces. However, as the years passed, the Purvanchali population grew sizeably, acquiring both economic and political heft.
Still, for years, political parties did little to target Purvanchali votes, till the AAP in 2013 capitalised on the dormant potential of the political bloc. In the 2013, 2015 and 2020 elections, Purvanchalis voted for the AAP en masse.
Unexplored by the BJP and Congress earlier, the AAP seemed to have realised and banked upon the Purvanchali vote bank. The Purvanchalis voted nine MLAs to power in 2015 and 2020 each -- from the AAP.
That trend appears to have changed this year.
According to people who settled in Delhi decades ago and have seen the socio-political position of Purvanchalis change over time, the disenchantment of the regional group is not from the party, but from Kejriwal and his attitude towards the group. “If the Purvanchalis had rejected AAP, leaders like Sanjeev Jha and Anil Jha would not have won with such large margins. Purvanchalis have continued to vote for leaders that they can relate to. However, there is a definite anger against the corruption charges that have dented his perception of being an honest person. Also, while the party offered nothing for the Purvanchali voters, it has also not placated their own senior leaders. Sanjeev Jha has consistently won but was not even given a ministerial position,” Vinay Jha, professor in Delhi University, said.
To be sure, the number of Purvanchali legislators has fallen.
In 2015, there were nine Purvanchali MLAs in Delhi — all from AAP. In 2020, there were 10 Purvanchali MLAs — nine from AAP and one from BJP. This time, there are seven Purvanchali MLAs — four from BJP and three from AAP.
Interestingly, it isn’t as if Purvanchalis only vote for Purvanchalis, and that was evident in this election.
AAP fielded 12 Purvanchalis, and the BJP, four, although the latter also gave a seat each to two of the party’s key allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) – the Janata Dal United (JDU) that contested the Burari seat and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ramvilas) that contested from Deoli—both of whom lost their seats. The Congress named four Purvanchali candidates.
AAP’s declining appeal to Purvanchalis was also manifested in its victory margins— Gopal Rai won from Babarpur by 18,994 votes (as against 33,062in 2020), Sanjeev Jha won Burari by 20,601 (as compared to 88,158 in 2020) votes, and Anil Jha won Kirari by 21,871 votes (as against his defeat by 5,654 in 2020).
“The people have given us a historic mandate because we have fought for them and with them. The Purvanchali voters have stood by us like always and will continue to be with us. I am thankful to them for placing their trust in me,” Sanjeev Jha said.
All parties had made several promises targeted towards the Purvanchalis in the city. The AAP claimed that they have built 1,800 Chhath ghats and started sewer connections in unauthorised colonies where Purvanchalis lived, while the BJP manifesto promised to build 1,000 more ghats, organising a biannual Purvanchal festival, allot land for community events, start special festival trains and interstate buses for Chhath and other festivals.
Political analyst at Policy Research and Center for Contemporary India Study (PRACCIS) Sajjan Kumar said that BJP’s ability to consolidate Purvanchali voters from the lower middle class and poor sections was its biggest achievement.
“The Purvanchali and Pahadi subgroups that form a large section of voters in Delhi started migrating towards BJP in the Lok Sabha elections and it seems like they continued to keep their loyalties with BJP. The PM’s personal promise of continuance of freebies or welfare schemes also played in their favour as people were reassured that their daily expenses will not increase,” added Kumar.
Unofficial estimates put the number of Purvanchali voters to more than a third of Delhi’s 15.5 million voters. As per the 2016-17 Economic Survey Uttar Pradesh to Delhi and Bihar to Delhi were the top two migrant export-import routes by states.