Residents of Deoli, Okhla constituencies say legislators have done ‘good work’

The lanes of south Delhi’s Deoli seemed unaffected by the chaos that has gripped the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Just hours after the area’s MLA, Prakash Jarwal, was arrested for allegedly assaulting Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, several voters from the locality claimed they were unaware of the matter.

For a major section of the voters in this lower-middle class neighbourhood, Mr. Jarwal is a “hero” who solved their water woes.

There was a time, many claimed, when people had to line up in the morning to fill their buckets with water from private water tankers.

“Now we all have piped supply of free water. It all happened with the coming of [Chief Minister] Arvind Kejriwal. He has been like a saviour to us,” said Manohari, a resident of Deoli village Block-J.

‘Political drama’

She added that the residents were not concerned about high-level political drama and would stand with the leaders who had worked for the public.

Many residents also appreciated Mr. Jarwal for being an approachable MLA and even on Wednesday, after his arrest, his office saw a line of residents seeking solutions to their issues related to Aadhaar cards and pensions.

“I went to meet the MLA around noon to get my electricity bill examined as last month, for the first time, we got an inflated amount, but I was told that the police arrested him. The work of several people will get stuck with our legislator being taken away,” said Surendra Kumar, a resident and owner of a grocery store.

A few residents, however, said they were fed up of the everyday drama surrounding the AAP.

“If the news is true, then it is shameful that an MLA is beating bureaucrats in the middle of the night. We have never seen such high-level political drama in the history of Delhi’s governance. These MLAs have been in the news for more bad reasons than good,” said 75-year-old Kishori Lal, a retired government servant.

No interest in the matter

A few kilometres away in Okhla, from where MLA Amanatullah Khan was arrested, the situation was similar. At Jamia Nagar, several people did not know that Mr. Khan was arrested for assault and did not show much interest in the matter either.

“Unless he [Mr. Khan] is involved in a corruption scam or has looted us, I don’t see how this case would affect the voters in his constituency. We will judge him by the work he has done for us and not by his equations with anyone,” said 38-year-old Mehtab Ali, a resident.