With Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh and Haryana facing Assembly elections next month, ticket-seekers and their cars parked across Copernicus Marg in Lutyens’ Delhi is causing major traffic jams on the busy stretch in the rush hours of late. The road, which connects India Gate to Mandi House, is home to both Haryana and Maharashtra Bhavans.

While the traffic may annoy commuters, at least one person isn’t complaining. Adalat, who puts his ice-cream cart outside Haryana Bhavan, is making more money than ever before. “On a normal day I earn between Rs 150 and Rs 200,” he says, “but in the last month I have earned Rs 600 to Rs 700 a day. One day I even made Rs 1,000.”

With candidates’ lists being prepared inside, Haryana Bhavan is packed with Congress aspirants and their supporters, standing in tight circles and nervously checking their cellphones. On a ledge by the entrance, a group clad in white kurta-pyjamas look despondent on Wednesday. They are supporters of Naresh Sharma, a Congress ticket-seeker for Badli Assembly constituency.

Sharma’s son Gaurav says his father had won the constituency in the last elections as an Independent. This time around, he wants the Congress banner behind him. They have been camping here for the last two weeks. Suddenly, a cellphone rings and a voice from behind the group shouts out that a television channel has announced Sharma’s name to be on the candidate list.

The crowd leaps from the ledge and surrounds Gaurav as he celebrates.

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