Headed for stiff fight, Aam Aadmi Party candidate and sitting MLA Rajesh Rishi is ever confident of his re-election and banking on the hope that voters will repose their faith in him because of his sheer commitment towards local development. In an exclusive interview with Abhinay Lakshman of Millennium Post, Rishi dismisses the thought of using the ongoing anti-CAA protests to milk political gain — unlike his opponents — and says he will solely focus on basic needs of his electorate. Excerpts: What are some of the local issues you will be focusing on during the campaign? Our aim is to focus on the honest work we have done. But Janakpuri still needs sewer lines to be changed, especially in the affluent colonies. A major issue is the Pankha Road drain. We want to build five new bridges over it and also remove high-tension wires that run through the colonies here. Traders have been affected by MCD authorities and we want to address that issue in addition to promoting pollution-free industry. We also plan to make Pankha Road signal-free. Why do issues of parking and sanitation still affect residents after five years? Parking remains a top problem for people here and we had agreed to resolve this earlier and shown our readiness to build parking areas but the DDA refuses to give us land for it. Even for the Pankha Road drain, we tried to resolve it in the last five years but we were not allowed to cover it up and later the brick walls around it were being brought down constantly by residents to find extra parking room. Now, we are putting RCC walls to beautify the area. Moreover, we have worked to bring 24 hours power in the area, a long standing demand. Your campaign strategy? See, we are going to the people seeking votes for the kind of work we have done in our tenure. We have solved water problems in the area. We put new water and sewer lines which were decades old. We also gave water to homes and changed their living standards. People are buying properties where people did not dare to live before and we also laid down the groundwork for the regularisation of unauthorised colonies. Will the anti-CAA/NRC protests be something you will address in your campaign? I will not be touching this at all. My campaign is solely about what Ive done for residents and what I can keep doing for them.

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