Delhi Politics: Then, the Mother’s Defeat... Now, the Son’s Revenge?
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) suffered a significant defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections, with party chief Arvind Kejriwal losing his seat in the New Delhi constituency. Kejriwal contested against Sandeep Dikshit from the Congress and Parvesh Verma from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Parvesh Verma secured victory with 30,088 votes, defeating Kejriwal by a margin of 4,089 votes. Kejriwal received a total of 25,999 votes, while Congress candidate Sandeep Dikshit secured 4,568 votes.
Throughout the counting process, the lead alternated between Kejriwal and Verma. The final round of counting determined Verma's win, with his victory margin nearly matching the total votes polled by Sandeep Dikshit. Political analysts suggest that the Congress candidate's presence in the race divided the opposition votes, ultimately contributing to Kejriwal’s defeat. They argue that had Congress and AAP contested together under the INDIA bloc alliance, the result in New Delhi might have been different.
In the 2013 Delhi elections, when AAP first emerged as a major political force, Kejriwal had defeated senior Congress leader Sheila Dikshit, who had served three terms as Chief Minister. That loss marked the end of Sheila Dikshit's political career. In the current elections, Congress fielded her son, Sandeep Dikshit, against Kejriwal. Analysts believe that by splitting votes and contributing to Kejriwal’s defeat, Sandeep Dikshit may have symbolically avenged his mother’s loss from a decade ago.
