BJP the overwhelming pick in Delhi, but INDIA scores in pockets

The 18 segments where the INDIA led the BJP are spread across the city’s seven Lok Sabha seats, and eight constituencies have a sizeable Muslim population

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured more votes than Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-Congress combine in 52 of Delhi’s 70 assembly segments in the general elections, limiting the alliance to just a few pockets of influence, constituency-wise data released by the state’s chief electoral officer on Wednesday showed.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva with the party’s victorious candidates in the Lok Sabha elections during a press conference in New Delhi on Wednesday. (Sanjeev Verma/HT Photo)

The 18 segments where the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) led the BJP are spread across the Capital’s seven Lok Sabha seats, and eight constituencies have a sizeable Muslim population, showed the data.

For instance, in the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha constituency, the BJP’s Praveen Khandelwal led in Adarsh Nagar, Shalimar Bagh, Shakur Basti, Tri Nagar, Wazirpur, Model Town, Sadar Bazar – seats characterised by middle-income families and unauthorised colonies, as the Congress candidate JP Aggarwal led in just Chandni Chowk, Matia Mahal, and Ballimaran, all within the Old City and with a significant chunk of Muslim voters.

In the New Delhi constituency, the BJP’s Bansuri Swaraj was ahead of the AAP’s Somnath Bharti in Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, Moti Nagar, Rajinder Nagar, Kasturba Nagar, Malviya Nagar, and Greater Kailash. Bharti, instead, was ahead in Delhi Cantonment, New Delhi (represented by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the assembly) and RK Puram constituencies.

The BJP won all of Delhi’s Lok Sabha seats in the general election results declared on Tuesday, as the party completed a hat-trick of clean sweeps in the national capital, months ahead of the state assembly elections, which are scheduled to be held in February 2025. The party won 54.34% of the 8.9 million votes cast in the city, with its share past 50% in all seven seats. The AAP and Congress together secured 43.08% of the vote share.

In West Delhi, the BJP’s Kamajleet Shehrawat was ahead of the AAP’s Mahabal Mishra in Madipur, Hari Nagar, Janakpuri, Vikaspuri, Uttam Nagar, Dwarka, Matiala, Najafgarh. Mishra was ahead only in Rajouri Garden and Tilak Nagar.

In North East Delhi where a keenly watched contest played out between the BJP’s Manoj Tiwari and the Congress’s Kanhaiya Kumar, the opposition party in Delhi led in Burari, Timarpur, Rohtas Nagar, Ghonda, Gokulpur, Karawal Nagar constituencies. Kanhaiya Kumar was ahead in Seelampur, Babarpur, Mustafabad, four seats that have a sizable Muslim population. He also led in Seemapuri, which is reserved for Scheduled Castes.

In the North West constituency, which is reserved for scheduled castes, the BJP’s Yogendra Chandolia was ahead in Narela, Badli, Rithala, Bawana, Mundka, Kirari, Nangloi Jat, Mangolpuri, Rohini. The Congress candidate Udit Raj was ahead only in Sultanpur Majra. He also won by the highest margin, of 290,849 votes, in the Capital.

In South Delhi, BJP candidate Ramvir Singh Bidhuri was ahead in Bijwasan, Palam, Mehrauli, Chhatarpur, Deoli, Kalkaji, and Badarpur constituencies while AAP’s Sahiram Pahalwan was ahead in Ambedkar Nagar, Sangam Vihar, Tughlakabad. While Bidhuri represented Badarpur in Delhi assembly Sahiram Pahalwan currently represents Tughlakabad in the assembly.

In East Delhi, BJP’s Harsh Malhotra was ahead in Trilokpuri, Kondli, Patparganj, Laxmi Nagar, Vishwas Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Gandhi Nagar and Shahdara constituencies, while the AAP candidate was ahead only in Jangpura, and by over double margin in Okhla assembly constituencies both of which have a seizable Muslim population.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said the AAP and Congress made the 2024 Lok Sabha election a referendum against allegations of corruption against the Kejriwal government. “Around 55 of 70 assembly constituencies have voted against Arvind Kejriwal. It is time for Kejriwal to resign as chief minister,” said Sachdeva.

An AAP leader, who asked not to be named, said: “Our vote share has increased substantially from the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. We are in the process of collating Form 20 to be able to comment on constituency-wise results.”

Form 20 is the final result sheet issued by election authorities.

Rahul Verma, fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) said, “Delhi has been voting differently in assembly and Lok Sabha polls especially since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which shows the voters have a different preference in national and local elections. In 2019 too the people gave seven Lok Sabha seats to the BJP but six months later when the same people voted in the assembly election they gave 62 out of 70 seats to the AAP.”

“The AAP has traditionally done overall well in areas with a high concentration of Muslims and poor voters. The BJP performs better in middle-class areas,” he added.

He cautioned, however, that “the BJP’s better performance in 52 assembly constituencies should not be considered an indication that the party may repeat this in the 2025 assembly polls.”