Delhi polls: Congress stole more votes than winning margin in 14 seats, leading to AAP's loss
New Delhi, Feb 8 (PTI): Congress received more votes than the wining margin in 14 constituencies where BJP emerged victorious defeating AAP candidates, including former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia.
AAP on Saturday was restricted to 22 seats, 14 short of forming a majority.
While the party increased its vote share from 4.26 per cent in 2020 to over six per cent in 2025, it failed to win even a single seat for third consecutive term.
These 14 seats are Timarpur, Badli, Nangloi Jat, Madipur, Rajender Nagar, New Delhi, Jangpura, Kasturba Nagar, Malviya Nagar, Mehrauli, Chhatarpur, Sangam Vihar, Greater Kailash, and Trilokpuri.
BJP's Parvesh Verma, former Delhi CM Sahib Singh Verma's son, defeated Kejriwal from the New Delhi constituency.
Kejriwal lost the seat by 4,089 votes at the constituency, where Sandeep Dikshit, son of another former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, finished a distant third with 4,568 votes, higher than the victory margin.
Similarly in Jangpura, Sisodia lost to BJP's Tarvinder Singh Marwah by just 675 votes where Congress' Farhad Suri received 7,350 votes.
Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj was defeated by BJP's Shikha Roy in Greater Kailash by 3,188 votes with Congress' candidate Garvit Singhvi getting 6,711 votes.
Congress, however, also received more votes than margin victory at seven seats where AAP emerged victorious. These seats included Kalkaji, where Delhi chief minister Atishi won defeating her nearest rival BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri.
Congress could get second place only in Kasturba Nagar where Abhishek Dutt received 27,019 votes and lost to BJP's Neeraj Basoya who got 38,067 votes.
The party only managed to save deposit in three seats -- Kasturba Nagar, Badli, and Nangloi Jat.
There are three seats -- Mehrauli, Okhla, and Mustafabad -- where Congress is not even in top three.
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
