New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended a rally in Ghonda on Wednesday, where Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva asked all party candidates to come on the stage. As they approached the PM, many of them bowed and touched his feet. Among them was Ravinder Singh Negi, the party candidate from Patparganj. As Negi touched Modi’s feet, the PM returned the gesture and touched his feet three times.
A little while later, Om Prakash Sharma, the Vishwas Nagar candidate, also tried to touch Modi’s feet but he was stopped from doing so half-way. On earlier occasions also, PM Modi has reciprocated by touching the feet of those who have touched his feet at such events.
Negi, 45, who is currently serving as an MCD councillor from Vinod Nagar — which is part of the Patparganj Assembly constituency — has hogged the limelight and made news.
Row over videos
Recently, a row broke out over a number of videos shared by Negi on his personal social media accounts. In one of these videos, he can be spotted talking with Altamash Tomar, the owner of Tomar Dairy store in West Vinod Nagar.
In the video, Negi tells Tomar: “This (signboard) has only Tomar written on it. Whatever your real name is, the Muslim name, get that written on the board. Get it done by tomorrow.” In the video, he threatens to seal the shop if the changes are not made.
In several videos uploaded by Negi on his social media in the recent past, the man is seen requesting Hindu street vendors to place saffron flags on their vending carts. Besides, he is shown visiting butcher shops ahead of festivals, asking them to close so as to respect the religious sentiments of the Hindus.
Negi reportedly told Indian Express that many shops are run under misleading names during Navratri. He added that the local RWA (residents welfare association) approached him with a slew of complaints. Negi claimed that he carried out an awareness campaign, asking shop owners to distinctly display their proprietorship.
Negi’s political odyssey began in 2020, when he made a strong debut by challenging then Deputy Chief Minister and AAP’s Patparganj candidate, Manish Sisodia, and narrowly lost by a thin margin of 2% votes. In the 2022 MCD polls, he emerged victorious, defeating the AAP candidate by a margin of 2,311 votes.
Negi’s phenomenal rise
Negi’s rise within the BJP has been swift. His grassroots approach has gone a long way in cementing his position in the party. He previously served as the Zila Mahamantri of the Delhi unit, and gained significant prominence following the 2020 polls. Negi is a prominent figure in Vinod Nagar, where locals are familiar with his home, former office, and election campaign offices. However, his recognition is less widespread in high-rise residential societies.
To bridge this gap, his campaign team has been paying visit to residential societies for interacting directly. At these gatherings, he introduces himself by saying, “I am Ravi Negi, a soldier of Modiji and the BJP candidate. Please vote for us if you want the Eighth Pay Commission and to benefit from Union government schemes.”
Negi has highlighted water quality and drainage as the primary concerns in Patparganj. He is facing strong competition from AAP’s Awadh Ojha, a civil services coach who has taken over from Sisodia, and Congress’s Anil Kumar Chaudhary.
