As Delhi gets ready to count votes today, a look at who stands where

The culmination of a months-long political battle between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress is set to unfold as the counting of votes will begin for the Delhi Assembly polls on Saturday.

The results will determine whether AAP secures a fourth consecutive term or if the BJP manages to form a government in the capital after 27 years. Meanwhile, the Congress which failed to win any seats in the last two elections is expecting to regain some ground.

With pollsters giving an advantage to the BJP which ran an aggressive campaign against Arvind Kejriwal and his government, the stakes are high for both the AAP and the saffron party. Meanwhile, Congress is projected to remain out of the race to form the government and is likely to finish third.

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What do exit polls say?

Several exit polls have suggested that the BJP may have an advantage over AAP, which has been in power since 2015. However, AAP has dismissed these predictions and remains confident that its leader, Arvind Kejriwal, will return as Chief Minister.Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva has claimed that his party will win nearly 50 seats. Meanwhile, AAP leaders say they are confident of winning again and forming the government.

Key constituencies and candidates

New Delhi

Arvind Kejriwal is contesting from the New Delhi constituency, a seat he has represented in the last three assembly elections. This time, he is up against BJP’s Parvesh Verma and Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit. Kejriwal has secured victories from the constituency with substantial margins in past elections. In this election, he is relying heavily on AAP’s welfare measures, particularly the pledge of a ₹2,100 monthly allowance for women as a central campaign strategy.

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Patparganj

A stronghold for AAP, Patparganj was represented by Manish Sisodia for three consecutive elections. However, this year, AAP has nominated teacher-turned-politician Awadh Ojha to contest against BJP’s Ravinder Singh Negi and Congress’ Anil Chaudhary. Before AAP’s dominance, the Congress held the seat from 1998 to 2013. In 2020, Sisodia secured victory with 70,163 votes.

Kalkaji

Kalkaji is witnessing a three-way battle among AAP, Congress, and BJP. AAP has fielded Delhi Chief Minister Atishi Singh, who is up against Congress’ Alka Lamba and BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri. The constituency has a total of 1,94,515 voters, including 1,06,893 male voters, 87,617 female voters, and 5 transgender voters. AAP secured victory here in the last two elections, with Atishi defeating BJP’s Dharambir Singh by 11,393 votes in 2020.

Jangpura

AAP secured victory in Jangpura in both the 2015 and 2020 elections with Praveen Kumar. This year, the party has replaced him with Manish Sisodia, who will be up against Congress’ Tarvinder Singh Marwah and Farhad Suri. In 2020, AAP won the seat by over 15,000 votes. Reports suggest Sisodia’s nomination is part of AAP’s broader strategy to counter anti-incumbency and consolidate its position across Delhi.

AAP confident of victory

On Friday, Kejriwal held a meeting with all AAP candidates and reaffirmed that his party would form the government again. He alleged that the opposition is using exit polls to create “psychological pressure” and attempting to execute “Operation Lotus”—a term used to describe the BJP’s strategy of influencing rival party members.

After the meeting, AAP leader Gopal Rai stated that reports from the party’s candidates indicate they are set to win over 50 seats, with a close contest in 7-8 seats.

A tough battle for BJP and Congress

AAP first dominated Delhi’s politics in 2015, winning 67 out of 70 seats and pushing the BJP and Congress to the sidelines. In 2020, the party retained power by winning 62 seats. A victory for AAP would further cement Kejriwal’s influence in Delhi and boost his national political standing. However, if the BJP wins, it would mark its return to power in Delhi after nearly three decades and break AAP’s stronghold.

The Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 years until 2013, is still struggling to make a comeback after failing to win a single seat in the past two elections.

Poaching allegations and political clash

A controversy erupted on Friday when Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena ordered an Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) probe into AAP’s claims that the BJP had attempted to buy its candidates for Rs 15 crore and offered them ministerial positions.

AAP leaders have accused the BJP of trying to manipulate the election results using exit polls while secretly attempting to poach winning AAP candidates. In response, the BJP has demanded that AAP withdraw its allegations and apologise, or face legal action.

Delhi BJP general secretary Vishnu Mittal had also requested an ACB investigation into AAP’s claims. Following the LG’s order, an ACB team met with Kejriwal regarding the matter.

With inputs from agencies