Ghaziabad: Once known as a sleeping industrial city, Ghaziabad is fastest growing in the National Capital Region and recently became second fastest growing city in the world, says a survey conducted by the City Mayors Foundation, a global think tank on urban affairs. The city was made a Parliamentary constituency in 2008 after the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission and has been represented by BJP for two terms. The seat has become a high profile parliamentary constituency - being represented by Union home minister Rajnath Singh and minister of state for external affairs V.K. Singh.

Mr V.K. Singh, who had defeated Congress’ Raj Babbar by 5.67 lakh votes in 2014 election, one of the highest victory margins in the country, is likely to face a tough fight from the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance candidate Suresh Bansal. He was the second choice of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance for this seat. The Congress has fielded newcomer and 33-year-old businesswoman-turned-politician Dolly Sharma. The polling in Ghaziabad will be held in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 11.

The Parliamentary constituency comprises mostly urban areas and is formed of five legislative assembly segments - Ghaziabad, Muradnagar, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad in Ghaziabad district and Dholana in Hapur district.

“V.K. Singh’s margin of vote is going to shrink this time due to the alliance but he will win the seat for sure. However, people in the rural areas are not happy with him because he kept his focus on urban areas,” said Rohit Sharma, a Vaishali resident.  

“Safety of women in the city is another issue of concern for the voters apart from the poor transportation system. The district is not having intercity buses and people are at the mercy of the unruly auto and sharing auto drivers,” said a Vasundhara resident.