The counting of votes for the Delhi Assembly elections is under way. As predicted by most exit polls, the Aam Aadmi Party comfortably swept the elections to retain power in the national Capital. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party was on course to win 62 seats, five short of the 67 seats it won in 2015, and retained its vote share of around 54%.
Below are the key candidates:
Candidate name: Atishi, AAP
Constituency: Kalkaji
Status: Won
Contesting against: Dharambir Singh of the BJP and Shivani Chopra of the Congress
Activist-turned-politician Atishi is for the first time contesting the Assembly elections. A member of AAP since 2013, Atishi is part of the Political Affairs Committee of the party. In 2019, she had contested the Lok Sabha elections from the East Delhi constituency but lost to cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir. In her election affidavit, the AAP candidate mentioned one criminal case against her. She is said to have had a significant role in the education reforms in Delhi. Atishi is one of just 24 women fielded by the three main parties combined.
Atishi faced stiff competition from Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Dharambir Singh and Congress’ Shivani Chopra, the daughter of Delhi Congress chief Subhash Chopra. The Kalkaji seat has been a Congress bastion. Subhash Chopra won from the constituency thrice from 1998 to 2013.
Atishi defeated Singh by a margin of over 11,000 votes at the end.
Candidate name: Arvind Kejriwal, AAP
Constituency: New Delhi
Status: Won
Contesting against: Romesh Sabharwal of the Congress and Sunil Kumar Yadav of the BJP
Kejriwal is a two-time chief minister of Delhi. He is AAP’s most popular face. The 51-year-old politician declared that his total assets were worth Rs 3.4 crore, including Rs 67.4 lakh in moveable assets and Rs 2.8 crore as immoveable assets. His total declared income is Rs. 12.8 lakh. In his election affidavit, Kejriwal mentioned 13 criminal cases against him.
In 2015 Assembly elections, Kejriwal had defeated Kiran Walia of the Congress and Nupur Sharma of the BJP. He had got 64.14% of the votes.
Candidate name: Manish Sisodia, AAP
Constituency: Patparganj
Status: Won
Contesting against: Ravinder Singh Negi of the BJP and Laxman Rawat of the Congress
Sisodia has been the deputy chief minister of Delhi since February 2015. He also holds the portfolios of education, finance, planning, tourism, land and building, piping, motor services, women and child, art, culture and languages. He is one of the founding members of AAP.
In his election affidavit, Sisodia mentioned three criminal cases against him.
Candidate name: Kapil Mishra, BJP
Constituency: Model Town
Status: Lost
Contesting against: Akhilesh Pati Tripathi of the AAP and Akanksha Ola of the Congress
A turncoat, Mishra joined the BJP in 2019 and campaigned for the saffon party in the Lok Sabha elections. In his election affidavit, Mishra mentioned two criminal cases against him.
In a controversial tweet, Mishra had suggested that the February 8 elections would be like an “India vs Pakistan match”. Following this, the Election Commission imposed a 48-hour campaigning ban on Mishra. He had also accused the Congress and AAP of playing communal politics.
Candidate name: Alka Lamba, Congress
Constituency: Chandni Chowk
Status: Lost
Contesting against: Parlad Singh Sawhney of the AAP and Suman Kumar Gupta of the BJP
Lamba was elected to the Delhi Legislative Assembly from Chandni Chowk in 2015. A former AAP leader, Lamba returned to the Congress in 2019. She has been the former president of Delhi University Students’ Union, former general secretary of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee and former secretary of All India Congress Committee. In her election affidavit, Lamba mentioned that there are no criminal cases against her.
Lamba had been at loggerheads with AAP for several months. In December 2018, Lamba had claimed that Kejriwal asked her to resign from the party after she refused to support a proposal in the Delhi Assembly on revoking former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s Bharat Ratna.
On the polling day, a scuffle broke out between AAP and Congress workers near Majnu ka Teela. In a video, Lamba was seen trying to slap an AAP worker.
Candidate name: Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, BJP
Constituency: Hari Nagar
Status: Lost
Contesting against: Raj Kumari Dhillon of the AAP and Surinder Kumar Setia of the Congress
Bagga is the Delhi spokesperson for the BJP. He is the founder of the ultra-nationalist fringe outfit called Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena. A Twitter celebrity, Bagga has more than 6.4 lakh followers on the microblogging site.
In his election affidavit, the 34-year-old BJP leader mentioned four criminal cases against him.
Candidate name: Amanatullah Khan, AAP
Constituency: Okhla
Status: Won
Contesting against: Parvez Hashmi of the Congress and Braham Singh of the BJP
Khan is the incumbent MLA from the Okhla seat. He is a member of AAP’s National Executive team. In his election affidavit, the 46-year-old the politician mentioned 12 criminal cases against him.
Okhla is a Muslim-dominated constituency. It has been the epicentre of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and proposed National Register of Citizens. Hundreds of women have been protesting at Shaheen Bagh under Okhla constituency since December 15. Meanwhile, Jamia Nagar area, which too falls under the same Assembly seat, has witnessed violence in the wake of the protests.
The Bharatiya Janata Party had attempted to portray the Delhi elections as a referendum on the ongoing protests, particularly at Shaheen Bagh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, too, had hit out at the Shaheen Bagh protests. Modi had called the protests a “conspiracy”, where the real agenda is being obscured by using the tricolour and the Constitution as symbols.
Candidate name: Vijender Gupta, BJP
Constituency: Rohini
Status: Won
Contesting against: Rajesh Nama Bansiwala of the AAP and Sumesh Gupta of Congress
Gupta is the incumbent MLA. He is a member of the BJP’s National Executive committee. In his election affidavit, the 56-years-old leader mentioned two criminal cases against him.
In the 2015 elections, he defeated the AAP candidate and had got 49.83%.
Candidate name: Raghav Chadha, AAP
Constituency: Rajinder Nagar
Status: Won
Contesting against: Rocky Tuseed of the Congress and Sardar RP Singh of the BJP
Chadha is one of the youngest leaders of the AAP who by profession is a chartered accountant. He had contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 but lost to BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri. In his election affidavit, the 31-year-old said there are no criminal cases against him.
The Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituency is currently held by Vijender Garg Vijay of AAP.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!