Bharatiya Janata Party supporters celebrate outside the BJP State headquarters, in New Delhi
| Photo Credit: Reuters
Story so far: “50 seats will ensure a comfortable government for BJP,” said BJP candidate from Kalkaji, Ramesh Bidhuri, on Saturday (February 8, 2025) as the saffron party took an early lead of 40+ seats in the Delhi Assembly elections. As per Election Commission of India (ECI), BJP is currently leading in 46 seats, followed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 24 seats. Congress has failed to win a single seat in the 70-member Delhi Assembly.
Also read: Delhi election results 2025 LIVE: February 8, 2025
Ahead of the polls, disgruntled members from across the three parties, jumped to other parties in lieu of getting a poll ticket. Top AAP leaders who jumped to BJP in the poll fray are Kailash Gahlot, Raaj Kumar Anand and Kartar Singh Tanwar, while BJP leaders who switched to AAP contesting these polls are Jitender Singh Shunty, Surinder Pal Bittu, B.B. Tyagi, Anil Jha. Congress leaders who joined AAP are Veer Singh Dhingan, Sumesh Shokeen, Zubair Ahmed, while Arvinder Singh Lovely and Rajkumar Chauhan joined BJP.
Here’s a look at how they are faring
BJP
One of its biggest steals from Congress — State president Arvinder Singh Lovely — is leading from Gandhi Nagar by 7,267 votes, against AAP’s Naveen Chaudhary. His Congress peer Rajkumar Chauhan is also leading from Mangolpuri by 5,020 votes. Both ex-Congress leaders were ministers in the late Sheila Dikshit’s cabinet and joined BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
Top AAP Minister Kailash Gahlot, who quit AAP in November accusing the party’s ‘political ambitions overtaking its commitment towards people’ is leading from Bijwasan by 7,515 votes. AAP had fielded ex-Congress MLA Devender Sehrawat against him.
In Patel Nagar, former AAP Minister Raaj Kumar Anand, who also joined BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha polls is trailing AAP’s Pravesh Ratan by 4,521 votes. Mr. Anand, who had served in the Kejriwal cabinet from 2022, faced Mr. Ratan, who himself switched from the BJP to AAP.
Sitting two-time MLA Kartar Singh Tanwar is set to retain Chhatarpur as he leads by 3,974 votes against AAP’s Bramh Singh Tanwar. The two-time MLA jumped ship from AAP to BJP ahead of the state polls, while ex-MLA Bramh Singh Tanwar switched to AAP after the saffron party denied him a ticket from his old constituency. In Kasturba Nagar, ex-Congress MLA Neeraj Basoya, who has been fielded by the BJP is leading by 10,781 votes.
AAP
Ex-BJP leader Jitender Singh Shunty who is AAP’s Shahdara candidate is trailing behind BJP’s Sanjay Goyal by 8,658 votes. Mr. Shunty, who had started his political career as a BJP councillor in 2008 won the Shahdara seat in 2013, joined AAP in December last year.
In Timarpur, ex-BJP MLA Surinder Pal Bittu, who has held the seat twice is leading BJP’s Surya Prakash Khatri by 3,528 votes. Mr. Bittu had also joined AAP in December 2024. However, BJP’s Abhay Verma is leading in Laxmi Nagar by 3,800 votes against ex-BJP B.B. Tyagi – a two-time Delhi councillor who joined AAP in November.
Ex-Kirari MLA Anil Jha, who had won the seat for the BJP in 2013, is set to retain the seat for AAP this time. He is leading comfortably by 15,009 votes against BJP’s Bajrang Shukla. Ex-AAP councillor Rajesh Gupta is a distant third trailing by almost 60,914 votes.
The Congress turncoats who switched to AAP too have mixed results. In Seelampuri, ex-Congress MLA Zubair Ahmad is leading by a comfortable margin of 27,945 votes against BJP’s Anil Kumar Sharma. In Seemapuri, ex-Congress MLA Veer Singh Dhingan, who joined AAP recently, is trailing BJP’s KU. Rinku by 3,744 votes.
Congress
Both outgoing AAP MLAs Dharam Pal Lakra and Haji Ishraq, who joined the Congress after being denied a ticket are trailing from Mundka and Babarpur respectively. BJP’s Gajendra Drall is leading in Mundka by 3025 votes, while AAP minster Gopal Rai is leading in Babarpur by 17, 221 votes. In Matia Mahal, ex-AAP MLA Asim Ahmed Khan, who joined Congress is trailing AAP’s incumbent MLA Aaley Mohammed Iqbal by 33,519 votes.
Delhi voted on February 5 and witnessed a voter turnout of 60.54%. Over 94.5 lakh citizens cast their votes in the high-stakes AAP Vs BJP fight.
Published – February 08, 2025 01:05 pm IST