Kejriwal faces his toughest challenge yet, as rivals and mounting pressures intensify ahead of elections.
New Delhi: Former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, who has represented the New Delhi constituency in the Delhi Legislative Assembly since 2013, may find the upcoming Assembly elections challenging for the first time. However, sources within the party suggest that that he is likely to secure a victory for the fourth consecutive term.
According to independent internal reports, Kejriwal is expected to win by around 20,000 votes. In the 2013 Assembly elections, when AAP contested for the first time, Kejriwal won with a margin of 25,000 votes. In his second election, he won by around 32,000 votes, and in 2020, he won with a margin of 21,000 votes. In the last two elections, Kejriwal secured more than 60% of votes.
A political analyst said, “For him, it’s not just about winning the Assembly elections, but also about securing his own seat with a respectable margin. He is someone who tries to control every aspect of the political narrative. For that, he has to repeat his victory with a greater margin.”
A political observer tracking Delhi politics stated that Kejriwal has nurtured his constituency since entering electoral politics and has developed a loyal vote bank.
He added, “We can say that he has more than 50,000 loyal voters in the constituency out of around 1.5 lakh voters.”
An analyst noted, “Parvesh Verma, who is contesting against Kejriwal, is seen as somewhat disconnected from the electorate. If he does well in the elections, it will likely be due to the BJP vote base in the constituency, not because of his own political capital.”
According to Congress leaders, Sandeep Dikshit may not win the elections, but his focus is on gathering enough votes that can help Kejriwal’s principal rival Parvesh Verma, secure a victory.
A Congress leader said, “Dikshit believes that Kejriwal was responsible for the political demise of his mother, Sheila Dikshit, and he will leave no stone unturned to defeat Kejriwal. He is determined to contest against him.”
Other political analysts believe that Kejriwal is anxious, as he has been responding to almost every claim made against him or his party.
A political analyst said, “Kejriwal has always tried to contest on his own terms. He has set the narrative and made everyone follow it. He would be the one calling the shots successfully in shaping perceptions against rival parties. But this time, it seems that this will not be the case. He is taking the elections far more seriously than he has in the past.”