Delhi has seven Lok Sabha constituencies, all of which currently have Congress MPs. Of the seven MPs, two are Union Ministers – Kapil Sibal and Krishna Tirath, and one is former Minister Ajay Maken.
Congress and BJP have traditionally dominated LS elections in Delhi, with other parties getting negligible vote shares. Only BSP has had some presence here. Its vote share increased in the 2009 election, going up to 5 per cent. The Congress had won 57 per cent and BJP 35 per cent of the total votes.
Previously, in the 2004 elections, the Congress had won six out of seven seats. BJP had then won only one seat, that of South Delhi.
The BJP has been a strong presence in most Delhi constituencies since the late 80s, but the tide turned in favour of the Congress around the time of the 2004 elections. Over the last term, however, the Congress has lost much of its popularity, the strongest indication of this being the 2013 state assembly election. In this election, BJP won the highest vote share in five of the seven LS constituencies. (In Delhi, 10 assembly constituencies together make one LS constituency.)
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fared second-best in these constituencies. In the remaining two constituencies – Chandni Chowk and New Delhi - AAP had the highest vote share. The Congress has no MLAs at all in the West, South and New Delhi LS constituencies now.
Polling percentage in Delhi has generally been low. According to a report by the civil society group Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), only 52 per cent of registered voters had voted in the 2009 election. Delhi has only had one reserved constituency – North West Delhi (SC).
All of the current Delhi MPs are crorepatis. This is in contrast to the situation in 2004, when only two out of seven MPs had been crorepatis. Four of the current MPs - Sibal, Krishna Tirath, Sandeep Dikshit and Maken – were elected MPs in 2004 too.
From left to right: Sandeep Dikshit, Ajay Maken, Krishna Tirath, Kapil Sibal, Ramesh Kumar, Mahabal Mishra, J P Agarwal.
Kapil Sibal (INC) | Chandni Chowk
Sibal, 65, is currently the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, with additional charge of Law and Justice Ministry. He had replaced A Raja as Communications Minister after the 2G spectrum scam. Before this, in 2009-12, Sibal had been Minister for Human Resource Development. He had been elected from Chandni Chowk in 2004 also, and was Science and Technology Minister in UPA I.
A lawyer by profession, Sibal had earlier handled major portfolios such as that of Additional Solicitor General of India (1989-90) and President of the Supreme Court Bar Association. He is a postgraduate in history and law, and specialises in Constitutional Law. He is an alumnus of St Stephen’s College, Delhi University, and of Harvard Law School.
Sibal has been mired in many controversies over the last few years. His attempts to control and censor the Internet were derided. His plans to introduce the low-cost Aakash tablet computer, has been largely unsuccessful. As HRD Minister, he tried to introduce many Bills on education reform, but these did not get passed during his tenure. His statement that the 2G scam had caused only ‘notional loss’ was among his many positions that caused him to be seen as a blind loyalist of the Congress leadership.
Sibal has also served as a Rajya Sabha MP and Congress spokesperson. He was a member of the Working Group set up by the Human Rights Commission, Geneva, to look into arbitrary detentions across the world. Interested in the education sector, Sibal has been Board Member of IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) and a member of the governing body of St Stephen’s College.
In 2009, 7.8 lakh people had voted in the constituency. Sibal won 4.6 lakh votes, which was around 59 per cent of the total votes. He had defeated BJP’s Vijender Gupta by a margin of over two lakh votes that is more than one-fourth of the total vote share. In the 2004 election, Sibal’s victory margin was much higher – about 44 per cent - against BJP’s Smriti Irani.
Chandni Chowk is a business hub with many small-scale industries. Issues here include encroachments, lack of civic amenities, and poor infrastructure, especially in the market areas.
Sandeep Dikshit (INC) | Constituency: East Delhi
Dikshit, 49, is former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s son. Like Sibal, Dikshit too had won a second consecutive time from his constituency in 2009. He has an M.A. degree from St Stephen’s College, and a postgraduate diploma in rural management from the Institute of Rural Management in Anand, Gujarat.
In the 2009 elections, voter turnout was 8.5 lakhs. Dikshit had won over five lakh votes, which was around 60 per cent of the total vote share. He had won 28 per cent (2.4 lakh) more votes than runner-up Chetan Chauhan of the BJP. The 28 per cent majority in this election was a sharp rise over the 19.3 per cent majority that he had got in 2004.
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Before becoming MP, Dikshit had worked on rural and human development issues in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. He has also edited and contributed to the Human Development Reports of different states. He lists rural development, poverty, employment and natural resource management as his areas of interest in his profile.
Dikshit’s constituency includes both well-developed areas and slums. During his tenure, East Delhi has had infrastructural development; mono and metro rails, flyovers and schools were built. But many areas are very underdeveloped, with lack of roads, overflowing drainage and lack of clean drinking water. Dikshit’s promise of setting up a university in his constituency has also not materialised.
Dikshit asked two questions in the Lok Sabha: one on analysis of 2001 Census data and the other related to the proposed methodology of the 2010 Census.
Ajay Maken (INC) | Constituency: New Delhi
Maken, 50, had won from this constituency both in 2004 and 2009. He is considered to have been among the more proactive ministers in UPA II. He was Minister of State for Home Affairs (2009-11), Minister of State (Independent Change) for Youth Affairs and Sports (2011-12) and Minister for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (2012-13). In June 2013, he resigned from his ministerial role to become the Congress General Secretary. He is also now in charge of Congress’ communications wing.
Maken is a graduate from Delhi University, and had started his political career when he became the President of DU Students’ Union while in college. He has led trade union movements in state organisations like the Delhi Transport Corporation, and also in private industries.
He had been elected MLA thrice, and had served as Delhi government’s Minister for Transport, Power and Tourism in 2001-2003. He had also been the Speaker of theDelhi Legislative Assembly. In UPA I, he had been Minister of State for Urban Development.
In 2009 election, Maken had won 4.5 lakh votes, which was 58.8 per cent of the total votes. Overall, 7.65 lakh people had voted in the constituency. Maken had defeated BJP’s Vijay Goel by 1.8 lakh votes, which was close to a quarter of the total votes.
As Sports Minister, he strongly pushed for the National Sports Development Bill, which would bring state-funded sports organisations (like BCCI) under RTI, put age and tenure limitations on Board members of these organisations etc. The Bill faced strong opposition from some MPs, BCCI etc. and has not been passed yet. Maken had demanded investigation of alleged tax violations in the IPL as well.
A controversy during Maken’s tenure was the ill treatment of athletes by officials who accompanied them for the Paralympic Games in London, 2012. Maken had sent a show-cause notice to the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) on the issue, though it is not clear as to what further action was taken.
Maken was also seen as proactive in providing better facilities and employment to sportspersons. As Housing Minister, he wrote to Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan to stop demolition of Golibar slums in Mumbai last year. However, the demolitions were not stopped.
Before being in UPA II, Maken was also involved in the creation of a new Master Plan for Delhi (MPD-2021), by which many illegal building structures were regularised. As state Transport Minister, he had implemented the adoption of CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) in Delhi’s public transport system based on a Supreme Court order.
Jai Prakash Agarwal (INC) | Constituency: North East Delhi
Agarwal, 69, has been an active member with the Congress party for long. He first became the District Youth Congress President in 1973. He was Deputy Mayor of Delhi Municipal Corporation in 1983-84. After this, he got elected to the Lok Sabha in ’84, ’89 and ’96. His current tenure in the Lok Sabha is his fourth. He had also become a Rajya Sabha MP in 2006.
Until recently, Agarwal was also President of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC). Last December, he resigned from this position following Congress’ abysmal performance in the state assembly election. Agarwal is a graduate from Hansraj College, Delhi University.
In the 2009 election, 8.77 lakh people had voted. Agarwal won 5.18 lakh votes, which was 59 per cent of the vote share. The runner-up B L Sharma Prem of BJP was left behind by about 25 per cent (2.2 lakh) votes.
In the election, Agarwal was a replacement for Jagdish Tytler, whom Congress had initially decided to field. Tytler’s candidature was withdrawn after protests from Delhi’s Sikh community, over his alleged involvement in the ’84 anti-Sikh riots.
Of all Delhi MPs (excluding ministers), Agarwal has been the most active in the LS in terms of participation in debates and asking questions. The questions pertain to a wide range of issues - towns covered under JNNURM and their project details; use of funds meant for free legal aid for the poor; action plan on climate change; steps to deport illegal migrants; functioning of Regional Rural Banks; effectiveness of employment generation schemes; details of shortage of manpower in armed forces; standards of biomedical research in India; anti-collision devices in trains; steps to deal with epidemics; steps to address shortage of judges in lower courts; outstanding dues of BSNL/MTNL phone bills; radioactivity threat from nuclear power stations; setting up of trauma care facilities; MNREGS implementation; details of UN peacekeeping missions undertaken by Indian army among several others.
He has also introduced 23 Private Member Bills in LS, two of which have been withdrawn. Of the 21 pending Bills, 11 are new Bills and the other 10 are amendment Bills.
The Bills include Eradication of Unemployment Bill, Compulsory Voting Bill etc. He is also the one to have used his MPLADS (Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) funds the most. Unauthorised slums have been a major concern in Agarwal’s constituency, and he has at times asked the state government to prevent demolition of such settlements.
Krishna Tirath (INC) | North West Delhi
Krishna, 59, is currently the only woman MP from Delhi. She is also Minister of State (independent charge) for Women and Child Development (WCD). She has been an MLA four times, starting from 1985.
Krishna had also been the Minister for Social Welfare, SC & ST, and Labour and Employment in the Delhi state government in 1998-2001. She was also Deputy Speaker of Delhi Legislative Assembly in 2003-04. She has an M.A and B Ed from Delhi University. She had worked as a Tax Assistant from 1975 to ‘85.
In the 2009 elections, total turnout was 8.57 lakh votes. Krishna won 4.8 lakh votes, which was 56 per cent of the total vote share. She had garnered 22 per cent (1.9 lakh) more votes than Meera Kanwaria of BJP.
Women’s issues had gained much attention after the 2012 Delhi gang rape case, and Krishna’s ministry was often in the spotlight. Last December, Krishna proposed an amendment to the Juvenile Justice Act so that juveniles aged 16-18 years, who are involved in serious crimes, can be charged under the IPC (Indian Penal Code).
When she came under attack for this, she clarified that juveniles would be treated as adults only if the Juvenile Justice Board recommended the same in specific cases. She said that the WCD ministry had sent a proposal to the Law and Home ministries on making this amendment in the law.
Krishna had pushed for the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, which got passed in 2012. On the other hand, the WCD ministry was criticised for delaying implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013. The Act had got the President’s assent in April 2013, but came into effect in December 2013 only.
Krishna’s ministry also broadened the scope of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, to include audio-visual media and to increase the penalty for offences.
While the Home Ministry had decided to not recognise stalking as a separate offence in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill of 2013, Krishna was among those who urged the Ministry to reconsider this. (Stalking was finally included as an offence.) Krishna has also said that death penalty should be given to rapists in grievous rape cases.
In 2010, the Central Administrative Tribunal cancelled the appointment of Krishna’s daughter Yashvi Tirath to Doordarshan News, saying that the selection was a case of favouritism. The Tribunal found that the selection processes were modified arbitrarily to enable selection of the minister’s daughter.
Mahabal Mishra (INC) | Constituency: West Delhi
Mishra, 60, is a first-time MP. Hailing from Bihar, Mishra had become a Delhi Municipal Corporation councillor in 1997-98. Since ’98, he has been elected as MLA thrice. He was also a member of the Delhi Development Authority from 1997 to 2008.
Mishra had completed 12th standard from LS College, Muzaffarpur, Bihar. He also has a Diploma in Transistor Theory from the Indian Army Corps of Signals and is an industrialist by profession. In the 2009 election, Mishra won 4.79 lakh votes, that is 54.3 per cent of the total votes cast. He garnered 14.6 per cent (1.29 lakh) more votes than BJP’s Jagdish Mukhi, a professor.
Last year, a special fast track court had issued a summons to Mishra and his family for their alleged role in the kidnapping and rape of a minor. Mishra had then appealed to the Delhi High Court, which set aside the fast track court’s summons.
West Delhi is a mixed constituency with both urban and rural areas, and a high migrant population. Mishra ensured road construction and construction of new parks in the constituency, but a common complaint among citizens here is lack of security.
Questions asked by Mishra in Parliament covered various issues. Some were Delhi-specific such as proposals on conversion of agricultural land in NCR (National Capital Region), vacancies in Delhi Corporation, status of Delhi Development Authority’s residential schemes and park management etc.
Other questions related to shortage of vaccines, government response to growth of slums, gas pilferage before supply of LPG to customers, substandard services of airlines, details of banks disbursing NREGA wages, river conservation, crime against women, change in job opportunities in IT sector etc.
Ramesh Kumar (INC) | South Delhi
Ramesh Kumar, 59, is a first-time MP. He was an MLA in 1998-2003. Kumar’s brother and Congress leader Sajjan Kumar was among those accused in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The Congress had initially fielded Sajjan Kumar in the constituency, but withdrew his candidature after protests, and fielded Ramesh Kumar even though his political visibility was relatively much less.
Ramesh Kumar completed 10th standard from the Government Senior Secondary School, Shakurpur, Delhi. In the Lok Sabha website, activities listed in his profile include working for oppressed groups, being active against communalism among others.
In the 2009 elections, total voter turnout was 7.3 lakhs. Kumar had won 3.6 lakh votes, which was over 49 per cent of the total vote share. He defeated Ramesh Bidhuri of BJP by around one lakh votes, which was 13 per cent of the total votes polled.
Ramesh Kumar had pushed for regularisation of unauthorised colonies, and in-situ rehabilitation for slum residents, in areas like Kalkaji JJ Clusters. A major issue in Kumar’s constituency is the tussle between the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) and residents of Tughlakabad area. Many settlements had come up illegally in this area, but parts of it had been regularised and civic amenities provided by the government over the decades. But in 1995, the Delhi government transferred large chunks of the land here to ASI.
In 2011, after a long court struggle, ASI got a Supreme Court order to demolish the properties here. Ramesh Kumar had intervened at the time, asking Sheila Dikshit to prevent the demolitions. Dikshit had responded that relief would be provided to the residents. (The residents then submitted a review petition to the SC and demolition was stayed again.)
Kumar has also raised issues regarding land acquisition. He has demanded that acquired land should be returned to farmers if compensation is not paid or if the land is not used for the designated purpose.
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|
ASSETS |
ATTENDANCE |
DEBATES |
QUESTIONS |
|
Kapil Sibal |
30.6 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
|
Sandeep Dikshit |
1.6 |
91 per cent |
16 |
2 |
|
Ajay Maken |
4 |
37 per cent |
0 |
0 |
|
Jai Prakash Agarwal |
2.5 |
98 per cent |
85 |
898 |
|
Krishna Tirath |
2.1 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
|
Mahabal Mishra |
6 |
95 per cent |
31 |
318 |
|
Ramesh Kumar |
2.5 |
100 per cent |
0 |
0 |
Table as per data up till February 21st, 2014
**Attendance, debates and questions of ministers are never recorded, and are hence unavailable.
MPLADS funds utilisation
MPLADS is a scheme launched in 1993, using which MPs can take up development works within their constituencies. MPs can recommend works within 11 sectors including infrastructure, public health etc. to the concerned district authorities. The district authority will consider sanctioning the project, and then will implement and supervise the project. Central government releases MPLADS funds directly to the district authority in the form of grants in-aid.
Initially, the amount under the scheme was Rs 5 lakh per year for each MP. This amount has been increased over the years, and now, MPs are eligible for Rs 5 crore annually. Some criteria should be met regarding the use of each installment of the funds, so that further installments can be released. The amount is non-lapsable – if it has not been fully utilised by an MP in his tenure, it will be carried over to the next elected MP.
During the period 2009-13, the best record for fund utilisation is for J P Agarwal, who had used 90.7 per cent of available funds. Ramesh Kumar has the worst record, having used only 35.9 per cent of his funds.
|
MP |
Amount released by GoI (in Rs crore) |
Amount available ith interest |
Amount used |
Percentage of used over available amount |
|
Kapil Sibal |
15.5 |
18.24 |
13.47 |
73.8 |
|
Sandeep Dikshit |
5 |
7.89 |
3.67 |
46.5 |
|
Ajay Maken |
18 |
20.96 |
16.61 |
79.2 |
|
Jai Prakash Agarwal |
15.5 |
18.39 |
16.69 |
90.7 |
|
Krishna Tirath |
7 |
9.99 |
5.66 |
56.6 |
|
Mahabal Mishra |
10.5 |
13.31 |
10.26 |
77 |
|
Ramesh Kumar |
7 |
10.32 |
3.71 |
35.9 |