Barely a few days after Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi hit the streets to charm voters and help shake off the BSP effect, party stalls in East and Northeast Delhi, known to be a Congress bastion, buzzed with excitement of a huge voter turnout.

While party stalls were filled with voters’ queries, with a healthy turnout in the Northeast district, the party will now be relying on loyalties they’ve enjoyed for years. A heavy turnout for the party would mean also that the votes from the backward classes, migrants and unauthorised colonies, the traditional vote bank of the party, would be split.

Party workers claim their damage-control work over the past few weeks has been ‘excellent’.

“We worked overtime and used every method, good or bad, to get a good result,” a worker in Seemapuri, where Rahul Gandhi had held a rally, said.

The turnout in Northeast district has been estimated to be close to 61 per cent and the party is hoping for a win after the rally by Rahul Gandhi for Veer Singh Dhingan, considered a strong candidate.

In Rohtas Nagar, which the BSP was considering a stronghold till about a few weeks back, Congress workers claim they have very strong chances. “The BJP candidate is out of the picture and the fight is between the BSP and us.”

With a high turnout of urban voters, which election officers at poll booths said has been estimated at more than 30 per cent, the party is hoping for another win for Ram Babu Sharma.

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