Delhi Elections 2025: 17 Constituencies With Tight Margins In 2020 That Could Turn The Tide

One-fourth of Delhi's assembly constituencies, which saw close contests in the 2020 polls with victory margins of less than 10,000 votes, are expected to play a crucial role in shaping the outcome of the 2025 elections.

Despite the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) securing a sweeping victory in 2020, winning 62 out of 70 seats, 17 constituencies witnessed razor-thin margins, ranging from just 680 to around 10,000 votes. Of these, four were narrowly won by the BJP, while 13 went to the AAP.

BJP Eyes Slim-Margin Segments Amid Anti-Incumbency

The BJP, aiming to capitalise on anti-incumbency against the AAP, which has ruled Delhi for a decade, is focusing on these constituencies. Even during the AAP's dominant wave in 2020, these segments posed significant challenges for the ruling party.

In the 2020 assembly polls, the BJP managed to win eight constituencies, with slim victories in four key seats:

• Karawal Nagar: 8,223 votes
• Gandhi Nagar: 6,079 votes
• Vishwas Nagar: 3,207 votes
• Badarpur: 3,719 votes

To strengthen its position, the BJP has revamped its strategy by fielding new candidates in three of these constituencies.

A senior BJP leader, speaking anonymously told Economic Times, "We lost several seats by very small margins. With strong candidates and anti-incumbency working in our favor, we are confident of flipping these constituencies."

Candidate Shifts in Key Seats

• In Karawal Nagar, BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht has been moved to Mustafabad, while former AAP leader Kapil Mishra will contest from the seat.
• In Gandhi Nagar, former Congress minister Arvinder Singh Lovely has replaced Anil Kumar Bajpai. Lovely, who contested on a Congress ticket in 2020, was one of the few Congress candidates who retained their deposit.
• In Badarpur, Narayan Datt Sharma will replace outgoing MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who was elected to the Lok Sabha last year.

AAP Adapts to New Challenges

The AAP has also reshuffled its strategy, replacing nine of the 13 MLAs who had secured slim victories in 2020. A party insider remarked, "These MLAs barely managed to win during the AAP wave. With anti-incumbency now in play, retaining these seats will be tough."

In some cases, both parties have swapped candidates. For instance:

• In Kirari, where AAP's Rituraj Govind won by 5,654 votes, the BJP's 2020 candidate Anil Jha is now running on an AAP ticket.
• In Chattarpur, where the victory margin was just 3,720 votes, the BJP and AAP have switched their candidates.
• Similarly, in Shahdara (margin: 5,294 votes), the two parties have swapped contenders.

As both parties recalibrate their approach, these 17 battleground constituencies are expected to be decisive in shaping the political narrative for the 2025 Delhi assembly elections.