Kejriwal Loses New Delhi Seat: A Historic Political Shift

Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and former Chief Minister of Delhi, is losing his seat in New Delhi to Parvesh Singh from the BJP by just over 3,000 votes. This loss marks a dramatic turn because Kejriwal had previously defeated Sheila Dikshit, a major political figure, to win his seat a decade ago.

Sheila Dikshit, who was the Chief Minister of Delhi for three terms, lost to Kejriwal in 2013. Over the years, Kejriwal built his reputation by criticizing Sheila for corruption, especially concerning the Commonwealth Games held in Delhi. He first won the New Delhi seat in the 2013 assembly elections by more than 25,000 votes, kept it in 2015 with more than 31,000 votes, and won again in 2020, but his margin dropped to 21,000 votes.

During this recent election, Sheila Dikshit focused her campaign on accusing Kejriwal of taking credit for her schemes.

Kejriwal stepped down as Chief Minister on September 17, 2024, while he was out on bail related to an excise policy case. He stated he would only return as Chief Minister if the people of Delhi trusted him again. He first won the election in December 2013 but had to resign after just 49 days due to issues with passing important laws.

Before politics, Kejriwal was an activist, joining forces with well-known figures like Kiran Bedi and Anna Hazare to form the India Against Corruption (IAC) group. They were demanding a strong anti-corruption law, the Jan Lokpal Bill.

Under Kejriwal’s leadership, AAP won 67 out of 70 seats in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, shutting out the BJP and Congress. Since then, they’ve passed the Jan Lokpal Bill, even though there are some differences from the original idea.

Kejriwal studied at IIT Kharagpur and worked in the Income Tax Department before entering politics. He was re-elected as Chief Minister in the 2020 elections and even led the AAP to a stunning victory in Punjab, winning its first government there and securing seats in Goa as well.