Shaheen Bagh, epicentre of anti-CAA protests and part of Okhla constituency, has been at the centre of Delhi election campaign.
In the Delhi Assembly Elections, Amanatullah Khan of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) won the Okhla constituency by a mandate of 71,000 votes over his closest rival, the BJP's Braham Singh. The constituency is currently in the news for being the epicentre of the anti-CAA protests in Delhi.
Shaheen Bagh and the Jamia Millia Islamia are parts ofthe Okhla constituency. The AAP leader Manish Sisodia had extended support tothe women protesting at Shaheen Bagh against the contentious CAA and the NRC,while a number of BJP leaders had suggested the use of bullets against "traitors"and "terrorists".
On the other hand, reacting to his victory, Amanatullah Khan on Tuesday said, "Okhla ki janta ne current laga diya, (the people of Okhla have given an electric shock)." His remarks came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while campaigning in Delhi, had asked voters to "press the button with such anger that Shaheen Bagh feels the current".
Also, BJP leaders like Anurag Thakur allegedly raised slogans of "Goli maaro sa*** ko" during his campaign rally in Delhi. Uttar Pradesh CM and BJP's star campaigner Yogi Adityanath also had his approval to use bullets to deal with dissenters.
Later, on January 30, a 17-year-old school studentfrom UP had fired a crude pistol at unarmed protesters at Jamia MilliaUniversity in front of policemen. Two days later, a 25-year-old man fired inthe air at Shaheen Bagh, shouting "Jai Sri Ram".
Now, the AAP candidate Amanatullah Khan's victory fromthe Okhla constituency with a huge margin is a significant impression of thefact that the voters of Delhi are more attracted to AAP's freebie politics thanthat of a polarising poll plank of BJP. It may be also seen as the protestersat Shaheen Bagh have largely voted for the AAP.
