Delhi election: Owaisi's AIMIM pushes Congress to fourth place in these two seats

AIMIM candidates Shifa Ur Rehman Khan from Okhla and Tahir Hussain from Mustafabad performed better than Congress' Ariba Khan and Ali Mehdi, respectively.

The AIMIM party, which contested only two seats -Okhla and Mustafabad—in the Delhi assembly election, secured a significant number of votes and cut into the margins of both the Congress and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi addresses a public meeting ahead of Delhi Assembly polls, at Mustafabad, in New Delhi. (File)(PTI)

The Congress failed to register a single lead in any of the 70 assembly seats in the national capital for the third consecutive time.

AIMIM candidates Shifa Ur Rehman Khan from Okhla and Tahir Hussain from Mustafabad performed better than Congress candidates Ariba Khan and Ali Mehdi, respectively. The grand old party was relegated to fourth place in both seats.

Both the Asaduddin Owaisi-led party candidates are accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case and are currently lodged in jail. Shifa Ur Rehman Khan and Tahir Hussain were granted interim bail for campaigning, during which they held several roadshows in Okhla alongside AIMIM leaders, including Owaisi.

Over 50 people were killed and scores injured in the riots, which broke out in February 2020 following clashes between supporters and opponents of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

According to the Election Commission, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Amanatullah Khan won in Okhla with a margin of 23,639 votes, while BJP candidate Manish Chaudhary came second with 65,304 votes. Shifa Ur Rehman Khan from the AIMIM secured 39,558 votes.

In Mustafabad, the BJP's Mohan Singh Bisht emerged victorious by securing 85,215 votes. AAP candidate Adeel Ahmad Khan lost by a margin of 17,578 votes. AIMIM's Tahir Hussain finished third by securing 33,474 votes, almost thrice more than Congress candidate Ali Mehdi.

Rahul, Priyanka on poll results

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said his party humbly accepts the mandate of Delhi's electorate. “Heartfelt thanks to all the Congress workers of the state for their dedication and all the voters for their support. This fight for the progress of Delhi and the rights of Delhiites – against pollution, inflation and corruption – will continue,” he said in a post on X.

Priyanka said that the people of Delhi have voted for change. “It was very obvious from all our meetings in Delhi that people wanted change. They voted for change. My congratulations to those who won. For the rest of us, it just means that we have to work harder, stay on the ground, and be responsive to people's issues,” she said.

(With PTI inputs)