Delhi Assembly election 2020: New Delhi, Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, Moti Nagar, Delhi Cantonment, Rajinder Nagar, Kasturba Nagar, Malviya Nagar, RK Puram, Greater Kailash constituency profile

New Delhi Lok Sabha seat comprises of 10 Assembly segments - Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, Moti Nagar, Delhi Cantonment, Rajinder Nagar, New Delhi, Kasturba Nagar, Malviya Nagar, RK Puram and Greater Kailash. Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal is contesting from New Delhi Assembly constituency.

All the 10 Assembly constituencies voted on February 8 and the result is on February 11. The main contest in Delhi Assembly election is between AAP, BJP and Congress. The MP from this Lok Sabha seat is BJPs Meenakshi Lekhi.

New Delhi

Arvind Kejriwal of AAP leads by 20241 votes overtaking BJPs Sunil Kumar Yadav.

AAP co-founder and incumbent chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is seeking re-election from this Assembly constituency. The BJP and the Congress are striving hard to unseat him and both the parties have nominated first-timers against Kejriwal.

The BJP has fielded its Delhi unit Yuva Morcha president Sunil Yadav, while the Congress has reposed faith in Romesh Sabharwal, who is associated with the National Students Union (NSUI).

Carved out of Gole Market and Sarojini Nagar constituencies in 2008, the New Delhi Assembly seat is dominated by government employees and has a history of being represented by the Delhi chief minister.

In the previous two elections, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal won the seat which was once known to be a Congress bastion. Kejriwal defeated former chief minister Sheila Dikshit with a considerable margin of over 25,000 votes in the 2013 election. In 2015, he registered a victory over BJP's Nupur Sharma.

Karol Bagh

AAPs Vishesh Ravi leads by 31760 votes while BJPs Yogender Chandoliya trails.

A part of the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency, Karol Bagh Assembly seat was won by AAP candidate Vishvesh Ravi in 2015 Delhi election. The BJP had retained this seat for nearly two decades, but due to a rebellion lost this traditional seat to AAP, which is a reserved (SC) constituency.

The battle is once again between the BJP's Yogender Chandolia and the Kejriwal-led party's candidate Vishvesh Ravi. The Congress has fielded Gaurav Dhanak. Karol Bagh has 1,64,742 electors.

The constituency that houses some of the busiest and famous markets including Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, Ajmal Khan Road, Tank Road Market, and Ghaffar Market, is electorally dominated by Dalit voters, who comprise at least 25-30 per cent of the population.

Patel Nagar

AAP Raaj Kumar Anand beats BJPs Pravesh Ratn by 30935 votes.

An SC reserved constituency, Patel Nagar is dominated by Jatavs. The AAP has changed its candidate this time, replacing sitting MLA Hazari Lal Chauhan with Raj Kumar Anand, who is among the richest candidates in this election with declared assets of Rs 76 crore. The BJP has fielded Parvesh Ratan against AAP's Raj Kumar Anand, while the Congress has given its ticket to Krishna Tirath.

The key areas under this Assembly segment include East and West Patel Nagar, Rajendra Place, Ranjeet Nagar, Baljit Nagar, Prem Nagar, along with colonies like Faridpuri, Punjabi Basti and Shadipur.

In 2008, Rajesh Lilothia had won the seat as a Congress candidate, but he lost to AAP’s Veena Anand in the 2013 poll. In the 2015 poll, he once again lost to AAP’s Hazari Lal Chauhan with a record margin of 68,868.

Moti Nagar

AAPs Shiv Charan Goel beats BJPs Subhash Sachdeva by 14072 votes.

Moti Nagar Assembly constituency, created in 1993, witnessed a tough fight between AAP and BJP candidates in the last Delhi Assembly election. AAP's Shiv Charan Goyal is seeking a second term from this seat but faces a tough challenge from BJP's Subhash Sachdeva. With a significant presence of Sikh and Punjabi voters, this assembly seat has been a traditional BJP bastion.

Moti Nagar Assembly seat comprises areas like Sudarshan Park, Rajouri Garden, Ramesh Nagar, Shardapuri, Kirti Nagar and Saraswati Garden. The DDA district park and Swatantra Bharat Mills, which is spread over an area of more than 75 acres, also form part of this constituency.

In the previous elections, this constituency elected BJP's late Madanlal Khurana twice and he also became the chief minister of Delhi in 1993. After he resigned from the Assembly in 2004, Subhash Sachdeva of the BJP won the seat in a by-election and continued to win it in 2008 and 2013 polls. Sachdeva, however, lost to AAP’s Shiv Charan Goyal by over 15,000 votes in the 2015 poll.

Delhi Cantonment

Virender Singh Kadian of AAP leads while BJPs Manish Singh is trailing by 10590 votes.

Delhi Cantonment assembly constituency is currently held by Surender Singh of AAP. Singh defeated Karan Singh Tanwar of BJP in 2015 Assembly election, getting 51.82 per cent of the vote share. In 2013 Assembly poll, Surender Singh had beaten Tanwar by a slim margin.

In the 2020 Assembly election, AAP has fielded retired Indian Air Force (IAF) officer Virender Singh Kadian against BJP's Manish Singh, who is known to be a close aide of Delhi BJP President Manoj Tiwari. The Congress has reposed faith in its loyalist Sandeep Tanwar.

Rajinder Nagar

Raghav Chadha of AAP beats BJPs Sardar RP Singh by 20058 votes.

With a substantial number of Other Backward Class and Scheduled Class voters, who mainly live in unauthorised colonies and slums, Rajinder Nagar is witnessing a triangular contest. AAP has replaced its sitting MLA Vijender Garg to field its popular face Raghav Chadha, who lost the 2019 Lok Sabha poll to BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri from South Delhi Lok Sabha seat.

Raghav Chadha, a Punjabi, is giving a tough fight to veteran BJP leader from the Sikh community RP Singh. The Congress has fielded a student leader from Jat community, Rocky Tuseed, who was the president of Delhi University Students' Union in 2017.

Sitting AAP MLA Vijender Garg won this seat in 2015 Assembly poll with over 54 per cent votes defeating BJP's RP Singh. Prior to Garg, Rajinder Nagar was a known BJP bastion. RP Singh had won the seat in 2013 election, and before him, Puran Chand Yogi of BJP represented the seat from 1993 until his demise in 2008.

Dominated by Punjabis as thousands of displaced families were settled here after the partition, Rajinder Nagar also has a significant population of SC and OBC voters who together form at least 40 per cent of the population in this constituency.

Kasturba Nagar

Madan Lal of AAP beats Ravinder Choudhry by 3165 votes.

Kasturba Nagar Assembly election 2020 is witnessing a fight between two-term AAP MLA Madan Lal and BJP's Ravindra Chaudhary and Congress’ Abhishek Dutt. Dominated by the Punjabi community, Kasturba Nagar constituency has a good presence of upper middle-class localities as well as villages.

Madan Lal, who has been representing this seat since 2013, had defeated sitting MLA Neeraj Basoya of the Congress in the 2013 poll by a margin of over 9,000 votes. In the 2015 poll, he improved his victory margin to over 15,000 votes.

The constituency comprises of areas like South Extension I, South Extension II, Lodhi Colony, Kotla Mubarakpur, Defence Colony, Andrewsganj, Pillanji village, Garhi, Jungpura Extension, Pant Nagar and parts of Lajpat Nagar.

Malviya Nagar

AAPs Somnath Bharti is leading, while BJPs Shailender Singh trails by 17426 votes.

AAP's Somnath Bharti is seeking his third term from Malviya Nagar. The BJP has fielded former councilor Shailendra Singh Moti against Bharti, while Congress has nominated former DUSU president Neetu Verma.

Somnath Bharti had defeated Congress leader Kiran Walia in the 2013 Assembly poll by a margin of over 11,000 votes, and in 2015, he defeated his nearest BJP rival by a margin of over 16,000 votes. Prior to 2008, veteran Congressman Yoganand Shastri represented this Assembly constituency for two consecutive terms.

Once populated by refugees from Pakistan in the 1950s, Malviya Nagar currently houses up-scale areas that share boundaries with unauthorised colonies.

RK Puram

Pramila Tokas of AAP leads while Anil Kumar Sharma of BJP by 10369 votes.

Named after Ramkrishna Paramahansa, RK Puram constituency is known as a residential area for government employees. AAP's Pramila Tokas is fighting against BJP candidate Anil Kumar Sharma.

The constituency was a Congress stronghold in the pre-AAP years and was represented by Barkha Singh in 2003 and 2008 in Delhi Assembly. She, however, lost to Anil Kumar Sharma of BJP in the 2013 poll. In 2015 Assembly election, AAP's Pramila Tokas defeated Sharma by around 19,000 votes.

Voters belonging to the Purvanchal region and Uttarakhand are found in significant numbers in this constituency.

Greater Kailash

Saurabh Bhardwaj of AAP secures a victory over Shikha Roy of BJP by 16809 votes.

Bhardwaj has retained Greater Kailash since 2013 defeating his nearest BJP rival in both 2013 and 2015 Assembly polls. Bhardwaj is facing a challenge from Shikha Roy of BJP and Sukhbir Singh Pawar of Congress party in 2020 Assembly poll.

Formed in 2008, Dr VK Malhotra of the BJP was the first MLA to represent this constituency. However, AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj has been representing the seat since 2013. The winning margin in the 2013 election was just above 13,000 votes, and in the 2015 poll, Bhardwaj won this seat with over 14,000 votes.

Muslim, Jat voters are known to play a decisive role in this seat comprising Greater Kailash Enclaves, Chittaranjan Park, Sainik Farms, and Alakananda DDA apartments. Once considered a BJP stronghold, Greater Kailash is a mix of affluent and middle-class residences.