Delhi Chief Minister Atishi addresses a Republic Day event of the Government of NCT of Delhi at Chhatrasal Stadium, in New Delhi, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Manvender Vashist Lav
Amid a harrowing defeat for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Delhi Assembly elections, incumbent Chief Minister Atishi has retained her Kalkaji seat, defeating her challenger Ramesh Bhiduri of the Bharatiya Janata Party. But she is part of a minority, in more ways than one: women’s representation is poised to remain low during the upcoming term, with only five women having won seats. This is even as marginally more women voters turned out to vote than male voters.
Representation was also a challenge during the previous government’s term, with only eight of 70 Assembly members being women.
Also Read: Delhi election results 2025 LIVE
The results of the February 5 election were announced on Saturday (February 8, 2025). As the BJP looks poised to take control in NCT, we take a look at the field and see how women candidates have fared in the elections.
Bharatiya Janata Party
As per data from the Election Commission website, four candidates from the Bharatiya Janata Party have been announced victorious so far.
This includes Rekha Gupta, who defeated Bandana Kumari of the AAP by more than 29,000 votes in the Shalimar Bagh constituency. In Wazirpur, Poonam Sharma defeated AAP’s Rajesh Gupta by around 11,000 votes, with the Congress’ Ragini Nayak coming in a distant third.
In Greater Kailash, Shikha Roy defeated AAP’s Saurabh Bharadwaj, who is the outgoing minister of health in the Delhi government, by around 3000 votes. In Najafgarh, Neelam Pahalwan won by around 29,000 votes over AAP’s Tarun Kumar Yadav. In third place in the constituency is Sushma Devi Yadav of the Congress.
Not all of BJP’s women candidates have fared equally well. In Matia Mahal, BJP’s Deepti Indora was defeated by AAP’s Aaley Mohammed Iqbal by around 42,000 votes. Similarly, Shveta Saini was defeated by AAP’s Jarnail Singh in Tilak Nagar by a margin of about 11,000 votes, and Priyanka Gautam was bested by Kuldeep Kumar (AAP) in Kondli.
BJP’s KU. Rinku is trailing behind AAP’s Veer Singh Dhingan by around 10,000 votes in Seemapuri.
Aam Aadmi Party
Incumbent Chief Minister Atishi of the AAP won in Kalkaji by a margin of around 3500 votes. She defeated the BJP’s Ramesh Bhiduri, while Alka Lamba of the Congress came in third.
Several women candidates of the AAP came in second to BJP candidates in their constituencies. Pramila Tokas was defeated in R.K Puram by BJP’s Anil Kumar Sharma by around 14,000 votes. In Rajouri Garden, A Dhanwanti Chandela lost to BJP’s Manjinder Singh Sirsa by a margin of around 18,000 votes. Meanwhile, Preeti Jitender Tomar was defeated by Tilak Ram Gupta of the BJP by around 15,000 votes in Tri Nagar. Sarita Singh was defeated in Rohtas Nagar by BJP’s Jitender Mahajan by around 28,000 votes, with Congress’ Sureshvati coming in third. Other defeats include Rakhi Birla in Madipur (to BJP’s Kailash Gangwal) and Anjana Parcha in Trilokpuri (to BJP’s Ravi Kant).
In Uttam Nagar, Posh Balyan trails behind BJP’S Pawan Sharma by almost 30,000 votes.
Congress candidates
The Congress has failed to open its account in the Delhi Assembly, with candidates placing third behind AAP and BJP in several constituencies, and sometimes even fourth. Congress candidate Krishna Tirath is in third place in Patel Nagar, where AAP’s Pravesh Ratn won over BJP’s Raaj Kumar Anand by around 4000 votes. Similarly, in Nerela, Congress’ Aruna came in third behind BJP candidate Raj Karan Khatri and AAP candidate Sharad Kumar, while Harbani Kaur placed third in Janakpuri behind Ashish Sood (BJP) and Parveen Kumar (AAP).
In Okhla, Congress candidate Ariba Khan is in fourth place, while AAP’s Amanatullah Khan is leading, followed by BJP’s Manish Chaudhary and Shifa Ur Rehman Khan of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen. Pushpa Singh too came in fourth in Mehrauli, where BJP’s Gajender Singh Yadav won.
Published – February 08, 2025 04:39 pm IST