BJP MP Manoj Tiwari (left) and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Delhi is home to seven Lok Sabha seats. These are – Chandni Chowk, North East Delhi, East Delhi, New Delhi, North West Delhi, West Delhi and South Delhi.
Delhi is set for a high-octane battle in Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Voting for the seven constituencies of Delhi will take place on May 25 during the sixth phase of General Elections as per the poll schedule announced by the Election Commission of India. The counting of votes will take place on June 4.
Delhi is home to seven Lok Sabha seats. These are – Chandni Chowk, North East Delhi, East Delhi, New Delhi, North West Delhi, West Delhi and South Delhi.
The 2019 Election Results
Registering a clean sweep, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won all seven seats in Delhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.
The BJP’s winning candidates in the 2019 polls were – Dr Harsh Vardhan from Chandni Chowk, Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi, Gautam Gambhir from East Delhi, Meenakshi Lekhi from New Delhi, Hans Raj Hans from North West Delhi, Parvesh Verma from West Delhi and Ramesh Bidhuri from South Delhi.
However, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) went on to win the Delhi Assembly Elections of 2020 with a thumping majority. The AAP won 62 out of the 70 Assembly seats in the 2020 Assembly polls.
Delhi Summers and The Political Heat
As Delhi faces the summer heat, political temperatures in the national capital are also rising ahead of Lok Sabha election 2024. With Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest in the excise policy scam case. Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the night of March 21 and continues to remain in custody.
The Chief Minister’s arrest has led to a political turmoil in Delhi ahead of elections with the AAP and Congress hitting out at the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, calling the arrest a conspiracy to “finish the Opposition” ahead of Lok Sabha polls.
However, Kejriwal’s arrest came after a series of big Delhi ministers having been arrested in the scam. After the Delhi government introduced a new excise policy in November 2021, the Delhi Chief Secretary reported severe policy breach. In August 2022, CBI raids were carried out at the premises of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, AAP leader Sanjay Singh and others.
Both Sisodia and Singh were arrested by the ED last year, following which a series of summons were issued to CM Kejriwal, which he ignored. In March, the ED arrested Kejriwal. The Delhi High Court refused to give him any relief citing “sufficient material” with ED to arrest him.
The Delhi CM has moved Supreme Court against the Delhi HC’s order. In his plea, Kejriwal called his arrest “illegal” and questioned the timing, saying it was “in the middle of the election cycle and especially after the declaration of the schedule of General Elections.”
Meanwhile, Singh got bail on April 3 even as Sisodia and Kejriwal remain in custody.
The 2024 Lok Sabha Elections
Delhi is witnessing a fight between the BJP and the INDI alliance with AAP fighting on four seats and Congress on three.
The BJP candidates for the 2024 polls include – Praveen Khandelwal (Chandni Chowk), Manoj Tiwari (North East Delhi), Harsh Malhotra (East Delhi), Bansuri Swaraj (New Delhi), Yogender Chandolia (North West Delhi), Kamaljeet Sehrawat (West Delhi) and Ramvir Singh Bidhuri (South Delhi).
The AAP candidates from four seats in Delhi include – Kuldeep Kumar (East Delhi), Somnath Bharti (New Delhi), Mahabal Mishra (West Delhi) and Sahi Ram Pehelwan (South Delhi). The Congress candidates for the 2024 polls are JP Agarwal (Chandni Chowk), Kanhaiya Kumar (North East Delhi) and Udit Raj (North West Delhi).