Women safety a major issue in Delhi polls

New Delhi: Women's safety tops the chart among the major issues confronting Delhi as it readies to vote for a new government February 7.

Most of the more than a dozen residents IANS spoke to said the safety and security of women in the capital would have to be addressed first by whoever wins the election. Rising food prices, chaotic traffic and the need for uninterrupted water supply and electricity are the other problems people say they are bothered about.

Prashant Rao, an art teacher with a prominent school, summed up the majority mood: "Incidents of rape, loot and murders have become common. And women are soft targets in Delhi." He said with more and more women going to work, they frequently suffer sexual assaults. "I want the new government to provide a crime-free city."

Deeti Gupta, 24, agreed. "Women should be taken care of. They need to go out for studies, work and other things. But with rapes reported every other day, it scares me." S S Ranga, an officer with All India Radio, and Mukesh Sharma, a Delhi government school teacher, also stressed the need to ensure women's security in the city of over 17 million. "Rape cases don't seem to be coming down," he said, adding infrastructure, especially cheap housing for the common man, and public transport were other important issues. Shalini, a student from Bihar residing in Delhi, says she is vigilant when she steps out because of the security situation in the city, more so at night.

Corruption was another issue everyone spoke about, but most felt that women's safety was the biggest concern.

Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party leaders admit that women's safety is indeed a major concern among voters.

So who is best suited to solve Delhi's problems?
Opinion was divided, with those polled seemingly divided between the BJP and the AAP. No one had anything to say about the Congress.