AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal loses New Delhi seat to BJP's Parvesh Verma

In the New Delhi constituency, BJP candidate Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma defeated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.

After the 12th round of counting,  Kejriwal lost by over 3,000 votes to Verma.

The BJP leader said the BJP-led governmnet in the national capital will fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream.  "This govt which is going to be formed in Delhi will bring PM Modi's vision to Delhi. I give credit for this victory to PM Modi. I thank the people of Delhi. This is the victory of PM Modi and the people of Delhi,"he said.

As counting began for the Delhi Assembly elections, Verma said "it's an important day for the people of Delhi". "I prayed that the BJP govt to be formed in Delhi," he told ANI.

#WATCH | BJP candidate from New Delhi assembly seat Parvesh Verma celebrates his victory after he defeats AAP national convener and former Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal#DelhiElection2025 pic.twitter.com/Z20ZjMM81m
ANI (@ANI) February 8, 2025

Verma's daughter  also reacted on father's victory.  "We all are very happy. I thank the people of New Delhi for giving us a chance to serve them for the next five years. We are very happy about becoming the MLA.. We have always accepted the posts given to him by the party, this time too we will accept it happily," Sanidhi told ANI.

The high-stakes battle in the New Delhi constituency also featured Sandeep Dikshit of the Indian National Congress (INC). The Delhi liquor policy was a major poll plank for the BJP in the national capital.  Kejriwal, who gave up his chief ministership, and his deputy Manish Sisodia, spent months in jail.

"I thank the voters of New Delhi, lakhs of hard-working workers and PM Narendra Modi. This is truly his victory. People have expressed their trust in him... Our priority will be to give Rs 2500 to women, create SIT to investigate corruption, Yamuna riverfront, reduce pollution, reduce traffic congestion... we will build such a capital that everyone will be proud of," Verma told ANI.

The counting of votes began at 8 am on February 8. The constituency had recorded a voter turnout of 56.41%, according to the Election Commission of India.

In the previous Assembly elections held in 2020, Kejriwal emerged victorious, defeating BJP’s Sunil Kumar Yadav by a margin of 21,697 votes. The New Delhi Assembly constituency is part of the larger New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, where BJP’s Bansuri Swaraj secured a decisive victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, defeating AAP’s Somnath Bharti by a margin of 78,370 votes. In the 2015 Assembly elections in Delhi, Kejriwal secured a victory defeating Nupur Sharma of the BJP and Kran Walia of the Congress.