Gurgaon: Overcrowded colonies, narrow roads and dilapidated conditions Infrastructure – Old Gurgaon Far from the glittering glitter of the new city, which has become synonymous with modernity and progress, it seems caught in the heat of time.
Against a backdrop of sky-kissing buildings and soaring flights, Old Gurgaon — with its chaotic urban planning and dilapidated civic amenities — is a faint shadow of the brand “Millennium City.”
Part of the Gurgaon assembly constituency, residents are troubled by inadequate water supply, power outages and poor waste management. The roads are a network of ditches and drains too narrow to handle the area's daily waste.
Be it a modern bus stand or a functioning government hospital, the wait for residents gets longer with time. Both projects announced years ago are still in the pipeline.
Despite repeated promises, successive governments have failed to bring about substantial change in Old Gurgaon.
Voters have voted for BJP in the last two elections of 2019 and 2014.
In 2014, Umesh Aggarwal of BJP defeated Gopichand Gehlot of INLD by 84,095 votes. Then the Congress was at the third position with only 19,094 votes.
In 2019, BJP candidate Sudhir Singla's margin of victory reduced to 33,315 votes as Azad Mohit Grover managed to get more than 48,000 votes. Congress then came third with 23,126.
This time, however, the BJP is facing infighting that threatens to erode the party's votes. Prominent among the rebels is Naveen Goyal, who is contesting as an independent after being denied a BJP ticket.
After a decade in third place, the Congress is now resurgent, buoyed by a significant increase in vote share during the recent Lok Sabha elections, and by the youthful energy of its candidates and the palpable discontent among the electorate. .
In his campaign speeches, Congress candidate Mohit Grover has focused on urban issues and made promises about long-pending projects.
Grover, who is contesting as an independent candidate in 2019, said, “There has been no development in this constituency for years. Civic amenities are poor and infrastructure needs to be upgraded urgently.” The Metro project has only moved an inch forward. Public transport, otherwise, there are parking and traffic problems, the city needs a new vision and planning for development.
BJP has also been promising to build a model market, bus stand and government hospital.
“We will convert Saddar Bazaar into a model market like Delhi's Chandni Chowk. A new bus stand and civil hospital will also be constructed,” BJP's Mukesh Sharma said. .
As political parties vie for control, the main question for residents remains – who will finally deliver on promises to lift old Gurgaon out of decades of stagnation?
Residents said they had no choice but to wait.
Raman Gehlot, a resident of Sector 4, said, “How long will Old Gurgaon remain a shadow of the Millennium City? Its promise and potential have not been fulfilled for years.”
Sunita Sharma of Sector 14 reiterated that this part of the city had been neglected for years. “It's like someone pressed the pause button and froze old Gurgaon in time,” he said.