Delhi Elections | 9 Key Seats And Candidates To Watch Out For: From Ballimaran To Okhla

As the Delhi Assembly elections near, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is aiming for a third consecutive term, while the BJP and Congress are ramping up their efforts to claim key constituencies. Several important candidates are at the forefront of this high-stakes contest.

The final phase of campaigning for the Delhi elections concluded on Monday evening with loud rallies and intense political jabs. BJP, AAP, and Congress made their final appeals for votes, leaving the outcome of the race in the hands of voters who will cast their ballots on February 5. The counting of votes and results will be announced on February 8.

New Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal, the incumbent Chief Minister of Delhi, will once again contest from the New Delhi constituency, a seat he has held in the last three elections. Kejriwal’s major competitors are BJP’s Parvesh Verma and Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit. In 2020, Kejriwal secured a decisive victory with a margin of 21,687 votes. His election campaign focuses on AAP’s welfare schemes, including a promise of Rs 2,100 monthly allowances for women, which is central to his appeal.

Malviya Nagar: AAP’s Somnath Bharti will contest again for the Malviya Nagar seat, where he has been highly successful in the past, winning with over 50% of the vote share in 2015 and 2020. His rivals include BJP’s Satish Upadhyay and Congress’ Jitendra Kumar Kochar. Bharti’s strong performance in previous elections has made him a dominant figure in this constituency, and he will look to maintain his winning streak.

Ballimaran: The Ballimaran constituency, located in the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha area, is a traditional stronghold for Muslim candidates. AAP has once again fielded Imran Hussain, an incumbent minister, to defend the seat. He faces Congress' veteran leader Haroon Yusuf, who has represented this area multiple times and was also a cabinet minister in the Sheila Dikshit government. Despite efforts by the BJP, which has named Kamal Bagri as its candidate, the party has never won here. Bagri replaces Lata Sodhi, who was the BJP candidate in 2020.

Rohini: The Rohini seat sees a close rivalry between AAP and BJP. In both the 2013 and 2015 elections, the margin of victory was just around 5,000 votes. BJP’s Vijender Gupta, a two-time winner in 2015 and 2020, will once again contest the seat against AAP’s Pradeep Mittal. Gupta won in 2020 by a margin of over 12,000 votes, but the tight competition means the outcome will be closely watched.

Shakur Basti: BJP has fielded Karnail Singh, the chief of its Delhi Mandir Prakoshth (temple cell), to contest in Shakur Basti against AAP’s Satyendar Jain. Karnail Singh is making his debut in the Delhi Assembly elections, while Jain, a senior AAP leader, will look to defend his stronghold. This seat is expected to be fiercely contested as both parties seek to make their mark here.

Patparganj: Patparganj has been a stronghold for AAP, with Manish Sisodia winning the seat in the last three elections. However, this time, AAP has fielded Awadh Ojha, a teacher-turned-politician, to contest against BJP’s Ravinder Singh Negi and Congress’ Anil Chaudhary. Prior to AAP’s dominance, Congress had controlled the constituency from 1998 to 2013. Sisodia won in 2020 with a significant margin, but Ojha will now face the challenge of maintaining the party’s dominance.

Kalkaji: Kalkaji will see a competitive three-way race between AAP’s Atishi Singh, Congress’ Alka Lamba, and BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri. Atishi, who won the seat in 2020 by a margin of 11,393 votes, will look to defend her position in this crucial constituency. With a total of 1,94,515 voters, this seat promises to be one of the most fiercely contested in the election, as all three parties aim to secure victory.

Jangpura: In Jangpura, AAP’s Praveen Kumar has won the seat in both 2015 and 2020. This time, AAP has fielded Manish Sisodia, a senior leader, in an effort to counter any anti-incumbency sentiments and solidify the party’s standing in the area. Sisodia will face Congress’ Farhad Suri and BJP’s Tarvinder Singh Marwah. AAP hopes that Sisodia’s popularity will help them maintain control of the seat, which they won by a margin of over 15,000 votes in 2020.

Okhla: Amanatullah Khan of AAP will contest the Okhla seat for the third consecutive time. He has previously won by large margins, defeating BJP’s Braham Singh by over 60,000 votes in both 2020 and 2015. This time, he faces Congress’ Ariba Khan, but the seat is expected to remain in AAP’s hands, as Khan has proven to be a strong contender in past elections.