Delhi Assembly Elections 2025 | Leaders who switched sides before polls may decide who comes to power

New Delhi: The performance of party-hoppers will count this time in government formation in Delhi as the three major players in the Assembly polls -- AAP, BJP and Congress -- have fielded around 20 foe-turned-friends in the electoral battle.

However, it won't be a smooth sailing for these candidates who are now trying to prove themselves in a new setup that has thrown at them multiple challenges including the unease among workers and leaders of their adopted parties.

With elections close by, several prominent leaders of the AAP, Congress and BJP switched sides, seeking to redirect -- and in some cases resurrect -- their political careers.

Amid uncertainty over getting tickets for the Assembly polls, around half a dozen BJP leaders crossed over to the AAP which promptly fielded them from different constituencies. These leaders had contested Assembly polls as BJP candidates in 2020.

One of them is Pravesh Ratan whom the AAP has fielded from the Patel Nagar (SC) seat against former minister and BJP candidate Raaj Kumar Anand.

In 2020 also, they were rivals, but from different parties -- Anand from AAP and Ratan from BJP.

Jitender Singh Shunty and Surinder Pal Bittu joined the AAP and got tickets from Shahdara and Timarpur constituencies, respectively.

Three other BJP leaders -- Brahm Singh Tanwar, BB Tyagi and Anil jha -- joined the AAP and were given tickets to contest these polls.

Tyagi is contesting the polls from Laxmi Nagar, Jha from Kirari and Tanwar from Chhatarpur.

Kartar Singh Tanwar who defeated Brahm Singh Tanwar in the 2020 polls is now a BJP candidate from Chhatarpur.

Jha was fielded by the AAP from Kirari seat by denying ticket to outgoing party MLA Rituraj Jha. Anil was defeated by Rituraj in 2020, with a small margin.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party has also fielded Congress leaders who switched over to the AAP in recent months.

Within days of joining, the AAP fielded Veer Singh Dhingan from Seemapuri, Sumesh Shokeen from Matiala and Zubair Ahmed from Seelampur.

The BJP's big catch included former Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely and former transport minister in the AAP government Kailash Gahlot. Lovely is contesting on BJP ticket from Gandhi Nagar seat while Gahlot is party candidate from Bijwasan constituency.

The party also gave tickets to former Congress leaders including Raj Kumar Chauhan from Mangolpuri, former MLAs Neeraj Basoya from Kasturba Nagar, and Tarvinder Marwah from Jangpura.

As for the Congress also, it managed to wean away outgoing AAP MLAs Dharam Pal Lakra (Mundka) and Abdul Rahman (Seelampur), and gave them tickets soon after joining the party.

Lakra, who joined the Congress earlier this month, is now seeking a reelection as the Congress candidate from Mundka.

AAP councilor Rajesh Gupta, who joined the Congress alongwith Lakra, is now a Congress candidate from Kirari.

Rehman joined the Congress in December last year and was rewarded with ticket from Seelampur.

Further, former AAP MLAs Devender Sehrawat and Haji Ishraq got tickets from Bijwasan and Babarpur seats, respectively, after joining the Congress in recent months.

Political leaders said several new entrants have good chances of winning the elections.

Sehrawat, Haji Ishraq and Abdul Rehman are capable of springing up surprises, claimed a Congress leader.

Delhi is slated for a triangular contest among the ruling AAP and opposition BJP and Congress, for the 70 Assembly seats going to polls on February 5.

The results will be declared after counting of votes on February 8.