JOIN USDelhi Election 2020: 10 things you need to know
With Aam Aadmi Party leading in 63 seats in the national capital and BJP leading in 7 constituencies, here are 10 things about the Delhi Election 2020 that you should know:
1. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) bagged 53.57 per cent votes in the 2020 Delhi election, giving another chance for AAP and their national convenor Arvind Kejriwal at the throne. It had bagged 54.34 per cent votes in 2015. This will be the third time Arvind Kejriwal takes oath as the CM.
2. In the Delhi Election 2020, the AAP, Opposition BJP and the Congress engaged in bitterly fought high-octane campaigning. With regard to statements made during election rallies, the Election Commission of India banned BJP’s two-star campaigners — Anurag Thakur and Parvesh Verma. AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal was also served an EC notice over his ‘Hindu-Muslim’ jibe.
3. Arvind Kejriwal won the New Delhi constituency against BJP's Sunil Kumar Yadav by a margin of 21, 697 votes. Kejriwal secured 46, 758 votes, which is 61.1% of the overall votes in the constituency.
4. AAP's Manish Sisodia and Atshi won after a nail-biting contest against their BJP opponents. Sisodia won by 3, 207 in Patparganj. In the 2015 elections, Sisodia won by a margin of 28, 791 votes. Atishi won in the Kalkaji constituency by a 11,393 vote margin, against BJP's Dharambir Singh.
5. The Congress' vote share dipped further to 9.65 per cent in 2015 and to 4.27 per cent in 2020. The national party was in power in Delhi from 1998 to 2013. In the 1993 Assembly polls, it had secured 34.48 per cent votes. Back again in 1998, it had secured 47.76 per cent votes. Congress filled the CM spot again in 2003 and 2008 with 48.13 per cent and 40.31 per cent votes respectively. In 2013, its vote share fell nearly by half to 24.55 per cent and the party managed to win only eight seats.
6. NOTA (none of the above) registered a 0.46-per cent vote share in the Delhi Assembly polls.
7. Delhi saw a voter turnout of 62.59 per cent, five per cent less than that witnessed in the 2015 Assembly elections. In absolute terms, however, the number of voters who exercised their franchise went up from 89.3 lakh to 92.5 lakh this time.
8. There was a delay in releasing the final voter turnout figures for Delhi Assembly election by the Election Commission. It even kicked off a controversy with Arvind Kejriwal terming the time taken by the Election Commission "absolutely shocking". The Election Commission had announced late Saturday night that the estimated turnout for the elections was 61.43%, hours after voting had closed at 6:00 pm, but the final figures were announced Sunday evening.
9. The three richest candidates in this election are contesting under the AAP, according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms. It further states that 51 (73%) out of the 70 AAP candidates contesting in this year’s Delhi state assembly elections are crorepatis, compared to 55 (83%) of 66 candidates from Congress and 47 (70%) of 67 candidates from BJP.
10. The BJP, which won the first Delhi Assembly election in 1993, has not been able to win the Assembly since then though it had been ruling the municipal bodies in the capital.