Delhi Polls: What's At Stake For AAP's Atishi, Congress's Alka Lamba, And BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri In Kalkaji Clash?

Last Updated:January 04, 2025, 19:10 IST

Since 1993, the seat has seen seven elections, with the Congress winning three times and AAP twice. The Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP secured one victory each

The seat is crucial for all three parties. File images/X

Among the few seats in Delhi that will be in everyone’s focus is the Kalkaji assembly constituency. Chief minister Atishi will be fighting from the constituency to give a third term to the ruling Aam Aadmi Party, the BJP is trusting its former MP Ramesh Bidhuri to secure a victory for the first time post-1993, and the Congress has named its senior leader Alka Lamba to win the seat it held non-stop between 1998 and 2013.

On Sunday, the Bharatiya Janata Party released its list of 29 candidates with Bidhuri in it. The candidature of Lamba, who was elected as an AAP MLA from Chandni Chowk in 2015, was officially announced last week by the Congress, and Atishi’s name was announced by AAP last month.

Atishi fought her first assembly election in Kalkaji in 2020 and secured close to 56,000 votes and a victory margin of over 11,000 votes. While she may be considered a known leader from the area, both Lamba and Bidhuri, though they have been MLAs in the past, are new in Kalkaji. However, both Lamba and Bidhuri are considered senior figures in Delhi politics.

Bidhuri is a three-time Tughlakabad MLA. He registered victories in 2003, 2008, and 2013, even when the BJP’s performance in the city was not very good. In 2014 and 2019, he was elected the MP from the South Delhi seat, housing the Kalkaji assembly. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, he was denied a ticket.

Lamba, who was with the Congress between 1994 and 2014, moved to AAP in 2014. She contested and won from Chandni Chowk in 2015. Even before her term could be completed, she rejoined the Congress in 2019. She fought two assembly polls as a Congress candidate and lost both—in 2003 from Moti Nagar and in 2020 from Chandni Chowk.

While this is the second time Atishi is contesting from the seat, AAP won from here even in 2015 when Avtar Singh was elected. If AAP manages to secure a victory, this will be the third time the seat will elect the party.

Since 1993, the seat has seen seven elections, with the Congress winning three times and AAP twice. The Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP secured one victory each

The seat is crucial for all three parties. While very new in politics, Atishi has become an important leader in her party in the last two years, particularly after she was included in the cabinet and became the first woman minister of AAP, and later when she was trusted by party supremo Arvind Kejriwal to replace him on the CM’s post.

For the Congress, which has not won any seat in Delhi since 2015, victory in Kalkaji will not just mark its entry into the assembly again but also help Lamba take revenge on AAP.

The BJP, although it kept winning a handful of seats in Delhi, could not form a government since 1998. The first elections in Delhi in 1993 gave the BJP a chance to form a government, but since then it has been struggling. If Bidhuri wins, this will not only make him a taller leader but also help the BJP in its narrative against AAP.

The term of the current assembly is ending next month, and elections will be held before that.

News politics Delhi Polls: What's At Stake For AAP's Atishi, Congress's Alka Lamba, And BJP's Ramesh Bidhuri In Kalkaji Clash?