New Delhi Lok Sabha Election: Riding a clear and thumping mandate in Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata party has made a clean sweep in the national capital. BJP candidates in six out of seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi are winning by a margin of at least 2 lakh votes.
Three of the BJP candidates -- Manoj Tiwari in North-East Delhi, Hans Raj Hans in North-West Delhi and Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma from West Delhi -- are set to win by a massive margin of over 3 lakh votes; two of them -- Hans and Verma -- are winning by a margin of over 4 lakh votes.
The BJP's vote share in Delhi, as counting winds down, stands at a staggering 56.49 per cent at the time of filing this report. The Congress’ vote share in the capital stands at 22.37 per cent and AAP’s at 18.26 per cent.
BJP Delhi unit president Manoj Tiwari is set to beat his Congress counterpart Sheila Dikshit by a margin of over 3,50,000 votes in North-East Delhi. Gautam Gambhir, former cricketer and BJP candidate from East Delhi, is winning by a margin of more than 2,98,000 votes against Congress’ Arvinder Singh Lovely. AAP’s Atishi is trailing far behind both in third position.
Union minister and BJP leader Harsh Vardhan is leading by 1,37,000 votes in Chandni Chowk, beating Congress' Jai Prakash Agarwal and AAP's Pankaj Gupta.
In South Delhi, Congress’ move to bring in boxer Vijender Singh failed to woo Jat voters. Singh is lagging behind at third while BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri is winning the seat by a margin of over 2,95,000 votes against AAP’s Raghav Chadha.
In New Delhi, sitting MP Meenakshi Lekhi is winning against former Congress Delhi unit president Ajay Maken by a comfortable margin of over 2,24,000 votes.
Dr Harsh Vardhan, while commenting on the vote share, said, "Development for everyone is our motto, crores of people will benefit from each of our plans. The Prime Minister has uplifted India's name in the world, made the country a fast growing economy, worked for the poor farmers and the labourers. The result of all his work is here. The whole nation is laughing on the people who had raised questions on EVMs."
With seven high-stakes seats, several prominent candidates in the fray included: Atishi, Gautam Gambhir, Ajay Maken, Sheila Dikshit, Vijender Singh, Raghav Chadha, Meenakshi Lekhi.
The looming narrative in the national capital was the long drawn out and ultimately doomed alliance tango between the Congress and the AAP. The two parties could not reach an agreement over seat sharing and chose to contest separately. AAP and Congress have a largely similar voter base and their failure to form an alliance has handed the advantage to the BJP.
The saffron party had won all seven seats in Delhi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
Earlier, during the day, Congress candidate JP Agarwal from Chandni Chowk had alleged delay in counting. He also alleged that the seal of strong rooms in Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk and Matia Mahal was broken.
One of the most watched seats in the country was East Delhi where AAP's Atishi, BJP's Gautam Gambhir and Congress' Arvinder Singh Lovely were locked in a triangular contest. Atishi's progressive image and impressive work in Delhi government schools had made her a popular candidate, while Gambhir, a former India cricketer who recently joined the BJP, has long been vocal on issues of patriotism and nationalism. Lovely Singh of the Congress, on the other hand, is an experienced legislator with considerable political experience.
Delhi was also a prestige battle for Congress. The national capital was once a bastion for the grand old party, with Sheila Dikshit serving three consecutive terms as chief minister. Much of Delhi's present landscape took shape under her terms as CM. Back as the Congress Delhi chief, Dikshit was in the poll fray from North-East Delhi constituency. She was up against Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and AAP's Dilip Pandey.
In 2015 Assembly polls in Delhi, AAP had swept the national capital, winning 67 out of total 70 seats. BJP, despite the massive 'Modi wave' that led to the saffron party's thumping win at the centre a year ago, managed to win only three seats. Congress was reduced to zero.
The three parties' performance in the national capital in Lok Sabha polls will also serve as an indicator when Delhi holds Assembly polls in 2020.
The campaigning in Delhi was divisive and controversial, especially in East Delhi. High profile candidates Atishi and Gambhir were locked in battle. The AAP candidate first raised the issue of Gambhir holding two voter cards and later challenged him for a debate, an invitation the former cricketer declined. Then all hell broke loose when a salacious defamatory pamphlet targeting Atishi surfaced. AAP accused BJP and Gambhir, who in turn defiantly denied all connection to the said document and threw a challenge to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal to submit proof of his role or quit politics.
A big agenda in Delhi during the polls was the question of full statehood for the Union Territory. AAP had campaigned on the full statehood plank and were hoping that a sizable number of MPs in parliament would help them drive that agenda forward.
With several of Delhi's institutions like law and order and municipality under the control of central government, AAP has had a tough time ruling Delhi. The relations between centre and Delhi government have been fraught. AAP claims a full statehood would make Delhi police more accountable and governing more smooth.
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