Among the underdog winners were Aaley Mohammed Iqbal and Virender Singh Kadian while big losers inc;uding Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia
NEW DELHI: In a stunning political shift for Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) marked a historic comeback in over 26 years, securing 48 out of 70 assembly seats. The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (
AAP
), which had governed the capital for two consecutive terms, suffered a massive setback, managing to secure just 22 seats.
What made the defeat more striking was the loss of several top AAP leaders, including former chief minister and party’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
The unsung heroes: AAP’s lesser-known become ‘saviours’
Despite AAP’s overall poor performance, a number of relatively low-profile candidates played a crucial role in keeping the party’s presence known in the Vidhan Sabha as barely any key names were able to get a win.
AAP’s Atishi secured a hard-fought victory in Kalkaji, successfully defending her seat against BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri and Congress’s Alka Lamba with a margin of 3,521 votes. She was among the few high-profile leaders in the party to retain their constituencies. Alongside her, three former Delhi government ministers—Gopal Rai (Babarpur), Mukesh Ahlawat (Sultanpur Majra), and Imran Hussain (Ballimaran)—also clinched wins. Imran Hussain registered a decisive victory in Ballimaran with a margin of 29,823 votes, while Gopal Rai secured Babarpur by 18,994 votes. Additionally, Amanatullah Khan emerged victorious in Okhla, defeating his opponents by 23,639 votes.
Thus, the lesser known names became a saving grace for the party. Here is a list of the underdogs that won big:
Here’s the list without bold and bullets:
- Ambedkar Nagar – Dr. Ajay Dutt (Vote margin: 4,230)
- Badarpur – Ram Singh Netaji (Vote margin: 25,888)
- Burari – Sanjeev Jha (Vote margin: 20,601)
- Chandni Chowk – Punardeep Singh Sawhney (Vote margin: 16,572)
- Deoli – Prem Chauhan (Vote margin: 36,680)
- Delhi Cantt – Virender Singh Kadian (Vote margin: 2,029)
- Gokalpur – Surendra Kumar (Vote margin: 8,207)
- Karol Bagh – Vishesh Ravi (Vote margin: 7,430)
- Kirari – Anil Jha (Vote margin: 21,871)
- Kondli – Kuldeep Kumar (Monu) (Vote margin: 6,293)
- Matia Mahal – Aaley Mohammed Iqbal (Vote margin: 42,724)
- Patel Nagar – Pravesh Ratn (Vote margin: 4,049)
- Sadar Bazar – Som Dutt (Vote margin: 6,307)
- Seelam Pur – Chaudhary Zubair Ahmad (Vote margin: 42,477)
- Seemapuri – Veer Singh Dhingan (Vote margin: 10,368)
- Sultanpur Majra – Mukesh Kumar Ahlawat (Vote margin: 17,126)
- Tilak Nagar – Jarnail Singh (Vote margin: 11,656)
- Tughlakabad – Sahi Ram (Vote margin: 14,711)
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AAP’s heavyweights swept off
Several key AAP leaders faced setbacks in the elections, including some of the party’s most prominent figures. Delhi’s ex-CM Kejriwal suffered a surprising defeat in New Delhi, losing to BJP’s Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma by 4,089 votes. Former deputy CM Manish Sisodia also fell short in Jangpura, where he lost to BJP’s Tarvinder Singh Marwah by a narrow margin of 675 votes.
Senior leader Saurabh Bharadwaj was defeated in Greater Kailash to BJP’s Shikha Roy by 3,188 votes. Meanwhile, ex-minister Satyendar Jain faced one of the biggest losses for AAP, losing Shakur Basti to BJP’s Karnail Singh by a significant 21,000 votes.
Thus, while BJP’s sweeping victory dominated the election results, the winning AAP candidates proved that grassroots leaders and lesser-known names could still command the trust of voters over key leaders’ assurances. As Delhi’s political landscape undergoes a drastic shift, these victories are AAP’s silver lining in an otherwise dismal electoral performance.
