Vikrant Shekhawat : Feb 05, 2025, 10:13 AM
Delhi Election 2025: Voting is going on for the Delhi Assembly elections. A total of 699 candidates are trying their luck on all 70 seats in the capital. The fate of these candidates will be decided by more than 1 crore 56 lakh voters. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is struggling to remain in power, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress (INC) are trying their best to make a comeback. Apart from this, AIMIM, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and other smaller parties are also in the fray.Status of major partiesAam Aadmi Party, Congress and BJP have fielded their candidates on most of the seats. Aam Aadmi Party and Congress have contested all 70 seats, while BJP has fielded candidates on 68 seats and its allies are contesting on 2 seats. BSP is trying its luck on 69 seats and AIMIM on two seats.Political stakes and prestige at stakeThe Aam Aadmi Party came to power in Delhi for the first time in 2013 and formed the government with a huge majority in 2015 and 2020. This time, the party has again given tickets to 36 of the 62 sitting MLAs, while 26 new faces have been fielded. BJP and Congress are putting in all their strength to challenge the development model of the Aam Aadmi Party.Strategy of BJP and CongressDespite being out of power for 27 years, the BJP has put Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other veteran leaders into the campaign to strengthen its position. The BJP has been winning the Lok Sabha elections, but it could not get the expected success in the Assembly.For the Congress, this election can prove to be a battle to save its political existence. After ruling Delhi for 15 years, the Congress was reduced to zero in 2015 and 2020. This time Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders have been attacking the Kejriwal government and the Congress has especially focused on Dalit and Muslim dominated seats.Hot seats and key candidates
- New Delhi: BJP's Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma and Congress' Sandeep Dixit are contesting against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
- Kalkaji: Congress' Alka Lamba and BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri are in the fray against Aam Aadmi Party's Atishi.
- Ballimaran: Aam Aadmi Party's Imran Hussain, Congress' Haroon Yusuf and BJP's Kamal Bagdi are in the fray.
- Okhla: Amanatullah Khan is pitted against AIMIM's Shifa-ur-Rehman, Congress' Areeba Khan and BJP's Manish Chaudhary.