Interesting poll battle expected in high-profile New Delhi Lok Sabha seat

In 2024, the BJP replaced Lekhi with former Union minister Late Sushma Swaraj’s daughter Bansuri Swaraj.

New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, among the oldest Parliamentary seats, is today considered a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stronghold. The Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS), a precursor of the BJP, won here twice – in a bye-election in 1961 and then in the 1967 general election. But both times, subsequently fell (1962 and 1971) to the Congress.

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In 1952, the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat was first won by Sucheta Kripalani, on a Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party ticket. This party was formed in 1951 by Congress dissidents led by JB Kripalani, her husband. She won the subsequent election here in 1957 on a Congress ticket. But later she went on to contest the assembly election in Uttar Pradesh and become the nation's first woman Chief Minister (1963-1967).

Her resignation from the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat led to a bye-election in 1961 which went in favour of BJS candidate Balraj Madhok. But he lost the general election held next year to Mehr Chand Khanna of the Congress. BJS returned in 1967, only to lose the subsequent Lok Sabha election, again to Congress.

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Since then, prominent personalities such as former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former Governor and Union Minister Jagmohan, former deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, and former Union Minister Ajay Maken have represented this seat in Parliament on different occasions. Maken was the last Congress nominee to win the 2004 and 2009 Parliamentary polls from New Delhi.

The constituency also had a political date with actors in the 1992 bye-election when Rajesh Khanna, contesting for the Congress, defeated his nearest rival and star colleague Shatrughan Sinha of the BJP by over 28,000 votes. In the general election held the previous year, Khanna lost to Advani by about 1,500 votes. However, Advani chose to retain the Ahmednagar seat – which too he had won – and resigned from New Delhi.

But Khanna could not retain the seat in 1996, losing to BJP’s Jagmohan by more than 58,000 votes.

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Despite New Delhi being a BJP stronghold currently, all the assembly segments within this Parliamentary constituency are held by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). These are Karol Bagh (SC), Patel Nagar (SC), Moti Nagar, Delhi Cantt, Rajinder Nagar, New Delhi, Kasturba Nagar, Malviya Nagar, R K Puram, and Greater Kailash. These seats primarily comprise shopkeepers, traders, and government workers, among others.

The total number of electors in the 2019 Parliamentary election was 16,17,470 of which 9,20,541 or 56.91 percent had cast their votes. BJP nominee Meenakshi Lekhi garnered 5,04,206 or 54.77 percent of the total votes polled and defeated her nearest rival Ajay Maken of the Congress who collected 2,47,702 or 26.91 percent of the mandate. The third position went to Brijesh Goyal of AAP (1,50,342 votes, 16.33 percent share).

Lekhi was the first woman candidate after Kripalani to win from the New Delhi seat in 2014 beating Ashish Khetan of AAP. Maken was the second runner-up in that election.

In 2024, the BJP replaced Lekhi with former Union minister Late Sushma Swaraj’s daughter Bansuri Swaraj. The 40-year-old Supreme Court lawyer entered politics with her appointment as co-convenor of the Delhi BJP’s legal cell in March 2023.

She studied English literature at the University of Warwick, then pursued law at BPP Law School in London and went on to obtain a Master at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford.

She enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi in 2007 and has since practised law. She has worked as the additional advocate general for the state of Haryana and has also been in private practice

She was a surprise choice for many considering that she is a virtual newcomer to politics and for being chosen for such a high-profile seat. Since her entry into politics, she has been a vocal critic of AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

AAP, which is being supported by the Congress in Delhi, has fielded their MLA from the Malviya Nagar assembly constituency Somnath Bharti (49) from the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat. After an M.Sc. from IIT Delhi, Bharti obtained a degree in law at Delhi University. He has practised law at Delhi High Court and Supreme Court.

He has been associated with AAP since its inception and in the first Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government (December 2013-February 2014), he served as a minister handling the portfolios of Law, Tourism, Administrative Reforms, Art and Culture.

He has been winning from Malviya Nagar, which is part of New Delhi Lok Sabha seat, for the last three consecutive terms.

In the 2020 Delhi assembly elections, he defeated the BJP’s Shailender Singh by more than 18,000 votes. Congress candidate Neetu Verma Soin finished a poor third with less than 3,000 votes.

The political battle between the two lawyers would be keenly followed at this high-profile constituency in the National Capital.