Placards of "No roads, no vote", "Abki bar, no guddha sarkar", "Stuck in traffic, can’t vote", and "Why Gurgaon crawls" were shown and slogans were being raised in Gurugram when the candidates went out in the city to seek votes.
The upcoming Haryana assembly elections in Gurugram have seen people raising the key issue the city has been facing since its inception as a millennium city.
People alleged that the city has been pitched as the "Singapore of India”, so why does the city crawl?, asked the residents.
“The city is in a mess but the traffic situation is worse. The only solution left is to never step out of the house. Even a few kilometres of distance takes over an hour and travelling to Delhi is like taking a flight to Dubai or Singapore,” Sumegh Jaiswal, a resident of a multi-storey complex in Sector 82, said.
Residents claim that the city has been offering jobs to people across the country, but when it comes to civic amenities- the city lacks. According to reports, congestion, intense waterlogging, and damaged roads are the major issues faced by the people.
Jaiswal’s fellow residents protested with posters when candidates of both the BJP and the Congress visited the area this week.
“We are asking all candidates what their plan is to address the traffic issue. We don’t need promises, we need a plan and then only we will vote,” Jaiswal said.
The city is home to many influential people in the country. Swanky apartments are a key attraction of the city.
“Sometimes it takes less time in flight than it takes to reach the airport from Gurugram. There is no metro connectivity to the airport and going by road is a nightmare. And if it rains, God save us because it is like literally rowing a boat. Why should we vote for any party if nobody is bothered about these basics,” said an architect, Trikha.
These concerns have also formed the basis of blame games among the political parties.
BJP’s Rao Narbir Singh admitted that the city is a “civic mess”. Singh is contesting from Bashahdpur constituency, which forms 70% of Gurugram’s electorate.
“I agree Gurgaon is a civic mess currently. We have the worst waterlogging, the worst roads and a traffic crisis. The city has turned into a garbage dump. The last five years not just brought the city to a standstill but reversed the pace of development,” he said.
He added, “I blame the coalition for it the Gurugram’s civic problems. We had a majority government from 2014 to 2019 and anybody can question the pace of development but things have gone downhill since 2019. It was our coalition with the JJP which is to be blamed.”
“The civic infrastructure department was with the JJP and they didn’t do anything. The people are disappointed that despite the BJP being at the helm of affairs, no work has been done,” Singh said.
Congress's Vardhan Yadav who is contesting his debut election from the constituency accused the BJP of neglecting Gurugram.
“There are two national highways passing through the city and still the traffic on main roads as well as interior roads is unbelievable.
“Despite contributing a hefty sum to Haryana’s coffers, Gurgaon has been given a short shrift and that is what needs to change. The situation wasn’t like this till Congress was at the helm in the State,” he said.
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