Kalkaji Election Result: AAP's Atishi Wins Her Debut Assembly Contest

Aam Aadmi Party candidate Atishi on Wednesday won the polls from Kalkaji Assembly constituency. Atishi defeated BJP's Dharambir Singh by 11393 votes. Counting of votes polled in the high-stakes Delhi Assembly elections is set to begin soon, with exit polls predicting a big win for the ruling AAP even as BJP leaders maintained that the surveys will fall flat. In the 70-member Delhi Legislative Assembly, there are several key constituencies including Kalkaji which will be watched closely by political analysts.

Known for her contribution to the education reforms brought under the AAP government in Delhi, 38-year-old educator Atishi was given a chance by the party to contest as its Kalkaji candidate for the upcoming Assembly elections. She contested against BJP's Dharamvir Singh who is the party's state unit chief of Purvanchal Morcha and booth management morcha head.

Congress which ruled the city for 15 years from 1998 to 2013 is looking for a comeback in the 2020 Assembly polls. The party has fielded Shivani Chopra against Atishi and Dharamvir Singh. Shivani is state Congress president Subash Chopra's daughter. Shivani recently inaugurated her election office in Kalkaji and held 'Jan samwad' in several areas including Govindpuri, Nehru Colony, Rajiv Gandhi transit colony, Amrit Puri and East of Kailash area.

Kalkaji Assembly constituency is currently held by AAP's Avtar Singh. In 2015, the AAP won a thumping majority in the state with winning 67 of 70 Assembly seats, with Arvind Kejriwal becoming the Chief Minister for the second time. The remaining three seats namely Rohini, Vishwas Nagar, and Mustafabad were won by the BJP.

The curiosity among people to know the outcome of the elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly has heightened post-exit polls, that has forecast a big win for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party.

BJP leaders have, however, maintained that the exit poll results that predicted its defeat in the Delhi polls will “fail” as the surveys did not take into account the votes polled in the evening.

The election, largely seen as a battle between the AAP and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which went aggressive during the high-octane campaign was held on Saturday, sealing the fate of 672 candidates -- 593 men and 79 women.

Nearly 24 hours after the polling ended in Delhi, the Election Commission on Sunday announced that the final voter turnout was 62.59 per cent, five per cent less than 2015, and asserted that it followed the laid down process to compile data, after the AAP questioned the “delay”.