AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj loses Greater Kailash seat
What's the story
In another huge setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj has lost to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Shikha Roy by 3,139 votes in the Greater Kailash constituency. With the defeat, he joins other senior AAP party leaders who lost the election, including Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia. As per Election Commission data, Roy won by 49,370 votes against Bharadwaj's 46,231. Congress's Garvit Singhvi managed to secure only 6,677 votes.
Election forecast
Bharadwaj predicts AAP victory in Delhi elections
Earlier, while the counting of votes for the Delhi Assembly elections was underway, Bharadwaj claimed every attempt was made to oust his party from power. He alleged that various agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Income Tax Department, Election Commission, and police were weaponized against AAP. Bharadwaj said he was confident that party chief Kejriwal would be elected Chief Minister for the fourth time.
Poll predictions
BJP leading
He also predicted a strong performance by the AAP, expecting they would win at least 40-45 seats out of 70 in the assembly. Contrary to Bharadwaj's predictions, however, Election Commission data showed the BJP was headed for a huge victory in Delhi after 27 years. The saffron party was leading in 47 out of 70 seats, while the AAP was leading in just 23 seats.