Inside Valmiki Basti and Seemapuri: Who Will Dalit Voters Choose in Delhi’s Assembly Election?

Valmiki Basti in Central Delhi is awash in political colours and buntings display the symbols of various parties as the campaign for the Assembly election moves into top gear. The area, which falls under the high-profile New Delhi constituency, has been seeing a stream of political visitors: former chief minister and sitting legislator Arvind Kejriwal, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, along with his party’s candidate Sandeep Dikshit; BJP’s candidate Parvesh Verma, the son of former chief minister Sahib Singh Verma.

The majority of the locality’s population belong to the Valmiki community, which comes under the Scheduled Castes category. Many of them are sanitation workers employed in the New Delhi Municipal Corporation, which looks after civic amenities in Lutyens’ Delhi, the seat of the Union government and home to VVIPs.

Valmiki Basti is not unaccustomed to visits by prominent politicians. It was here that Kejriwal launched his campaign for the Assembly election in 2013 and unveiled the AAP symbol, the broom, one the community here could relate to. It was also in this locality that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on October 2, 2014. And it was here that Mahatma Gandhi lived from April 1946 to June 1947.

The locality is now at the centre of a frenetic campaign this election season. And it provides an insight into how the Dalit electorate views this election.

Key issues: Unemployment and utility bills

On one side of a lane that leads to the Valmiki Temple, a group of women sit on woven cots under the afternoon sun. When asked to list the issues that are important to them this election, they unanimously say “unemployment”. There are no jobs, say the women. “Not even contractual jobs are available now, forget government jobs,” says Suman, 60. “I have four sons. They are all graduates. But they are sitting at home.”

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There are clues into the people’s disenchantment with the Kejriwal government: people complain about high power and water bills. Free electricity up to 200 units per month and free water up to 20 kilolitres per month are the biggest welfare measures of the AAP government in Delhi, highlights of what has come to be known as the “Delhi model of governance”. Some residents recall the late chief minister Sheila Dikshit who they credit with development; others say they admire Modi for his “strong leadership”.

However, there is also an acknowledgement of the Kejriwal government’s financial relief to the poor and the lower middle class. Bimla, 56, says free bus travel is a boon for women like her. She is fairly confident that the AAP will provide the promised Rs.2,100 per month to women. “Arvind Kejriwal has implemented many schemes that have been a big help to poor families like ours,” she says.

Economic hardship clearly drives the discourse in Valmiki Basti; the alleged threat to the Constitution by the BJP does not appear to be a major talking point among the Dalit electorate here.

Several kilometres away from Valmiki Basti, in the reserved constituency of Seemapuri, situated not far from Delhi’s border with Uttar Pradesh, the same set of issues resonate with the people. Seemapuri, mainly comprises of slum settlements where a large section of residents belong to the Scheduled Castes category. Much like Valmiki Basti, it has a connect with Kejriwal, who had flagged off his activism here after quitting his job in the Indian Revenue Service more than two decades ago.

Poonam Kumari, 40, who runs a juice stall here, says there is a huge improvement in government schools, where her two sons study. Her husband passed away a few years ago, and as the sole earning member of the family she could not have afforded a private school. However, civic amenities in the area are in a very poor state, she says: “The drains are overflowing and always blocked. The condition of roads is really bad too.”

Seemapuri had voted in Rajendra Pal Gautam in 2020, a minister in the Delhi government, who quit the AAP and joined the Congress in September, 2024. From Seemapuri, the AAP has now fielded Veer Singh Dhingan, a former MLA earlier with the Congress. The BJP’s candidate from the constituency is Sushri Kumari Rinku, while the Congress’s is former MLA Rajesh Lilothia.

Udaiveer, 46, a fruit-seller in Sunder Nagari locality (in the Seemapuri constituency) where Kejriwal had launched his activism, is vocal in his criticism of the AAP government. He has just got a water bill of Rs.26,000, he says. “I am a poor man. How can I pay such a huge bill?” he asks. Indeed, hefty water bills have been an important issue this election, and Kejriwal even held a press conference to announce that all such bills will be waived.

Economic hardships shape the Dalit vote

Dalit voters constitute around 17 per cent of voters in Delhi. Of the 70 Assembly seats in the capital, 12 are reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. In the 2020 Assembly election, the AAP swept all 12 reserved constituencies. However, this time round, dissatisfaction with the local MLA has emerged as an important factor in the party’s internal surveys.

In Seemapuri, the sitting MLA has parted ways with the AAP, and Dhingan, an import from the Congress, has been fielded. Similarly, the sitting Patel Nagar MLA Raaj Kumar Anand, left the AAP in April, 2024, and joined the BJP in July, 2024, and has been fielded by the saffron party from the same constituency this election. The AAP has nominated Parvesh Ratan, who had contested on a BJP ticket from Patel Nagar in 2020. Sitting MLAs were not renominated from Trilokpuri, Madipur, Mangolpuri, and Deoli. Rakhi Birla, who was Deputy Speaker in the outgoing Assembly was moved from Mangolpuri to Madipur.

According to a survey carried out by the National Confederation of Dalit and Adivasi Organisations (NACDOR) among Dalit voters in Delhi, 51 per cent of respondents said they believed Kejriwal’s term has been the best so far, while 32 per cent rated Sheila Dikshit’s tenure as the most satisfactory. In this election, as per the survey findings, 44 per cent of respondents want to vote for the AAP, 32 per cent for the BJP and 21 per cent favour the Congress.

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Inflation emerges as the most important issue for the Dalit voters, with 48 per cent listing it on top of their priority list, while 33 per cent believe unemployment is the most pressing issue.

Ashok Bharti, chairman of NACDOR, says the survey shows it is not issues of social empowerment but economic hardship that Dalit voters will base their electoral decision on. “It is issues of employment and price rise that the Dalit voter is concerned about in this election. Incomes are dipping and prices going up, and Dalit families, many of them poor, are under tremendous financial strain,” he says.

While the Dalit community in Delhi appears to largely favour the AAP, the party’s support among Dalits is eroding, according to Bharti. “It appears that some of the AAP voters could be looking at the Congress as an option. The BJP’s support among the Dalits has not grown and may in fact dip. The Bahujan Samaj Party is not being viewed as an alternative by the community,” he says.

The decision of the Dalit voter in the capital, this Assembly election, is indeed expected to be based on who is best placed to ease their economic woes.