Synopsis
Delhi’s recent assembly elections were highly competitive, with 24 constituencies decided by margins of less than 10,000 votes. BJP won 16 of these closely contested seats, while AAP secured eight. AAP’s strategy to change candidates in certain areas backfired, contributing to BJP’s success. AIMIM’s participation also influenced results in Muslim-dominated constituencies.
APNew Delhi: Delhi witnessed one of its most fiercely contested assembly elections this time, with over one-third of constituencies registering victory margins of less than 10,000 votes.
The number of closely fought seats increased to 24 this time from 17 seats with victory margins of less than 10,000 votes in the 2020 elections. A resurgent Congress, turncoat candidates fielded by both the BJP and AAP, and Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, all seem to have influenced the electoral dynamics.
According to the Election Commission’s final data, two constituencies-Sangam Vihar and Trilokpuri-were decided by fewer than 500 votes. In contrast, the 2020 elections had no seats with margins this narrow. Like the last time, one constituency-Jangpura-saw a margin of 500-1,000.
The number of constituencies with margins between 1,000 and 10,000 votes, however, rose to 21, compared with 16 in 2020.
Out of the 24 seats decided by margins under 10,000 votes, BJP won 16 and AAP secured eight.
In 2020, AAP had won 13 of the 17 such seats, with the remaining four going to BJP.
The incumbent AAP changed its candidates in most of these constituencies on the premise that if they struggled at the peak of an AAP wave, then they would not be able to withstand 10 years of anti-incumbency in a tough election. However, the strategy didn’t work with BJP winning 15 of the 17 constituencies where AAP did not field sitting MLAs. The party, however, wrested Kirari and Badarpur from BJP. In Kirari, AAP had given a ticket to BJP’s turncoat and won the constituency by a margin of 21,871. It repeated the candidate in Badarpur and won the constituency by 25,888. While the presence of Congress has been well documented, the influence of AIMIM was also evident in Muslim-dominated constituencies of Okhla and Mustafabad. Owaisi’s party fielded imprisoned candidates Shifa Ur Rehman Khan (Okhla) and Tahir Hussain (Mustafabad), who got bail to canvass.
The Muslim vote was divided in Mustafabad and BJP successfully wrested the constituency from AAP with Mohan Singh Bisht winning by 17,578 votes. AAP managed to retain Okhla even though the victory margin of sitting MLA Amanatullah Khan came down from 71,827 to 23,639 votes.
In both constituencies, Congress was relegated to fourth position with AIMIM candidates finishing third.
