Delhi polls: Mehrauli replaces Delhi Cantt as constituency with lowest turnout

Mehrauli saw the lowest turnout (53.02%) in Delhi's 2025 elections due to candidate changes and urban apathy, despite previous higher turnouts.

The Mehrauli assembly constituency witnessed the lowest turnout among the 70 constituencies in the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections, clocking a measly 53.02%, according to the Election Commission data on late Thursday. The Delhi Cantonment constituency, which was at the bottom in the last assembly elections with a turnout of 45.36%, saw an improved turnout of 59.36% this time around.

Voters cited last-minute candidate changes, urban apathy and local rivalries as key reasons for the decline, from 56.68% in 2020. (HT Photo)

Meanwhile, the Model Town constituency recorded the second-lowest voter turnout, clocking 53.62%.

Voters cited last-minute candidate changes, urban apathy and local rivalries as key reasons for the decline, from 56.68% in 2020.

Naresh Yadav, the incumbent MLA from the Aam Aadmi Party, won the seat in the 2020 and 2015 assembly polls. Although included in the initial list of candidates, the party decided to change the candidate to Mahender Chaudhary in the run up to the polls. Chaudhary’s wife, Rekha Mahender Chaudhary, is the councillor for the Mehrauli ward. Denied the ticket, Yadav resigned from the party and joined the BJP.

Rajesh Panwar, who heads the Vasant Kunj RWA federation, said: “At the last moment, the local MLA was changed. He has been an approachable popular MLA. People did not come out to vote in both urban and rural parts of the constituency.”

Vikas Tokas, a resident of Katwaria Sarai said that independent candidate priest Balyogi Balaknath’s entry into the electoral fray was well received in rural pockets. “Babaji has received support from villages which may have also discouraged traditional BJP voters not to come out,” Tokas said.

Located in south Delhi, there are 216,404 electors in Mehrauli, with the AAP’s Mahender Chaudhary, BJP’s Gajender Yadav, Congress’s Pushpa Singh and an independent Balyogi Balaknath the key contenders.

Mehrauli saw a much better turnout in the last three elections: 56.68% in 2020; 62.76% in 2015 and 62.06% in 2013.

Mehrauli covers diverse areas, such as the Mehrauli village, home to the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, which is a Unesco World Heritage site on the one end, planned sectors of Vasant Kunj, malls and commercial areas in Saket and several urban villages, such as Lado Sarai, Masoodpur, Kishangarh, Ber Sarai, Katwaria Sarai, and Rajokari village. The constituency also houses the Jawaharlal Nehru University and its staff quarters.