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Delhi bypolls: Why AAP lost strongholds Chandni Mahal, Chandni Chowk
BJP won Dwarka B, Ashok Vihar, Chandni Chowk, Dichaon Kalan, Shalimar Bagh B, Greater Kailash and Vinod Nagar. AAP bagged Naraina, Mundka and Dakshin Puri wards
The BJP won seven of the 12 wards, while the Aam Aadmi Party won three and Congress one ward in the MCD bypolls in the national capital on Wednesday.
The BJP won Dwarka B, Ashok Vihar, Chandni Chowk, Dichaon Kalan, Shalimar Bagh B ward, Greater Kailash and Vinod Nagar. AAP bagged the Naraina, Mundka and Dakshin Puri wards. The Congress, meanwhile, snatched the Sangam Vihar A ward from the BJP.
While the BJP retained most of the wards, including Shalimar Bagh, represented by Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta, AAP suffered upsets in two of its previously held seats: Chandni Chowk and Chandni Mahal wards.
How AAP lost Chandni Mahal, Chandni Chowk
The Chandni Mahal ward was represented by AAP candidate Aaley Mohammad Iqbal, who won the seat in 2022 by a margin of 17,100 votes. However, after Iqbal successfully contested the assembly polls, the seat became vacant.
Also Read: Delhi MCD election result 2025: Full list of winners of bypolls in 12 wards
Cut to November 2024, Aaley Mohammad Iqbal's father, Shoaib Iqbal, wanted the seat for his brother-in-law, Kashif Qureshi. After AAP announced Muddasir Usman Qureshi as the party's candidate, Shoaib Iqbal quit the party and supported the AIFB candidate Mohammad Imran.
The election concluded with a victory for Mohammad Imran, who won the AAP stronghold ward by a margin of 4,692 votes.
Meanwhile, the Chandni Chowk ward was won by AAP's Punardeep Singh Sawhney in the 2022 polls by a margin of 1,216 votes.
The seat felt vacant after Sawhney was elected an MLA in February polls. In the bypolls, the party nominated Harsh Sharma against BJP's Suman Kumar Gupta. The BJP candidate defeated AAP's Sharma by 1,182 votes to secure the ward.
The bypolls to 12 MCD wards were held on November 30. The bypolls to the civic body were a litmus test for the BJP, as it comes months after BJP's victory in the assembly polls in February.
