Delhi election key candidates result: Gopal Rai wins Babarpur seat; Saurabh Bharadwaj loses from Greater Kailash

Delhi election key candidates result LIVE: AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj.

Delhi election key candidates result highlights: Parvesh Verma of BJP has defeated AAP national convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi assembly constituency. In another intense contest, Delhi chief minister Atishi defeated BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri from Kalkaji constituency with a margin of 3,500 votes. Former Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia, however, conceded his defeat from the Jangpura constituency to BJP candidate Tarvinder Singh Marwah.

The BJP is poised to form a government in Delhi after more than 26 years, with the latest Election Commission data showing the saffron party has won 30 seats and is leading in 18 others out of the 70 assembly constituencies. AAP has won 15 seats and is ahead in 7 others. The Congress failed to secure any lead in any seat.

Counting of votes began at 8 am today. In the polls, AAP was aiming for a third consecutive full term in Delhi. AAP secured 62 out of 70 seats in the 2020 polls, while the BJP claimed just eight. Congress, which governed Delhi for 15 years, failed to win any seats in the past two elections.

Voting took place in a single phase on February 5 for all 70 seats of the Delhi assembly. Exit polls had forecast a BJP comeback in Delhi after 27 years, with the party expected to comfortably reach the majority mark of 36 seats and potentially secure an additional 10-15 seats.

Key updates | Delhi polls key candidates results:

- Congress leader Alka Lamba, who is contesting in Kalkaji, hours before vote counting today, said that the Congress wanted to resume work on development in the national capital that had stopped 10 years ago.

- BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa also announced that today will be the day that ‘AAP-da’ will be eliminated. He claimed that the people of Delhi were ready to vote out former CM Arvind Kejriwal and make him an ex-MLA as well.

- AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal has accused the BJP of attempting to poach its members, allegedly offering ₹15 crore and ministerial positions for them to switch to the saffron party. The Anti Corruption Bureau has called in Kejriwal for questioning regarding the allegations.

- The New Delhi constituency is set for one of the most heated contests in the national capital, with former chief minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal running as the party’s candidate. He will face BJP’s Parvesh Verma and Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit in a seat Kejriwal has represented since 2013.

- Arvind Kejriwal also claimed on Friday that the Election Commission of India (ECI) had declined to upload Form 17C and the vote counts per booth for each assembly, despite multiple requests.