Chief Minister Atishi Wins Kalkaji, But AAP Loses Delhi To BJP
Defying initial expectations Chief Minister Atishi is the sole major AAP leader to retain her seat in Kalkaji. Atishi secured 52,058 votes, defeating her closest rival, Ramesh Bidhuri of the BJP, by a margin of 3,580 votes.
However, her victory was an exception, as other prominent AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, lost their seats. The BJP’s victory is a significant upset, given the AAP’s strong governance record in Delhi.
Atishi, representing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saw strong competition from Ramesh Bidhuri of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Alka Lamba of the Indian National Congress (INC).
In the 2020 Delhi assembly elections, Atishi won the Kalkaji seat by a margin of 11,393 votes, securing 52.28% of the total votes.
This time around, 13 candidates were in the fray, including Atishi, Ramesh Bidhuri, Alka Lamba, and Pritam Singh of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). The Kalkaji assembly constituency is a general category seat located in the South East Delhi district.
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Atishi comes from a family of educators, with both her parents Vijay Singh and Tripta Wahi, working as teachers at Delhi University.
She excelled academically, completing her schooling at Springdale School in New Delhi. Atishi then graduated with honours in History from St. Stephen’s College, New Delhi, in 2001.
She furthered her education at Oxford University, earning her first master’s degree in 2003 through a prestigious Chevening scholarship. Additionally, Atishi obtained her second master’s degree in Educational Research in 2005 as a distinguished Rhodes Scholar.
Atishi has been a prominent figure in Delhi’s education sector, introducing key reforms and empowering teachers.
She has also handled multiple portfolios in the Delhi government, including Finance, Education, PWD, Power, and Water.
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The Kalkaji constituency has a significant voter base. In the 2020 Delhi Assembly Elections, there were 1,06,743 voters, comprising 59,157 male voters and 47,583 female voters, with no voters belonging to the third gender.
Additionally, 167 postal votes were cast, and there were 73 service voters, including 65 men and 8 women. In comparison, the 2015 elections saw a total of 1,64,319 voters, with 92,072 male voters and 72,236 female voters. There were also 303 postal votes and 79 service voters, consisting of 49 men and 30 women.
