New Delhi: The contest for the Kalkaji assembly seat in Delhi has turned intense with the entry of former South Delhi MP and the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) leader Ramesh Bidhuri against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Chief Minister Atishi.
The constituency is up for a fierce triangular fight as the Congress party has already fielded Alka Lamba, National President of the Mahila Congress and a former Chandni Chowk MLA, for the seat in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.
High Battle Ground Kalkaji
Atishi, Kalkaji's MLA since 2020, was predicted to win the seat comfortably. However, Bidhuri's entry into the fray made the challenge tough for the AAP leader as he is expected to gain an advantage in the contest given his local popularity and past ties, having previously served as an MLA from Tughlakabad three times and an MP from South Delhi Lok Sabha thrice.
#WATCH | Delhi: On BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri contesting the upcoming state elections from the Kalkaji Assembly constituency, Delhi CM Atishi says, " ramesh bidhuri has been an mp from south delhi for 10 years. his party did not consider him worthy of giving him an mp ticket based… pic.twitter.com/FhU2kzziDj
— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2025
Soon after the BJP named Bidhuri as its candidate for the seat, Atishi reacted, expressing confidence over her win. “When the BJP itself had diminished Ramesh Bidhuri's stature by not giving him an MP ticket, now giving him an MLA ticket will have no effect. Aam Aadmi Party will again win the Kalkaji seat.”
Understanding Kalkaji's Electoral History
The Kalkaji seat has a complex electoral history, with no party managing to transform it into a stronghold. The AAP has won the seat twice, with Atishi winning by more than 11,000 votes in the recent assembly election. Similarly, former Congress state president Subhash Chopra has won the seat three times for the grand old party.
In the first elections, held in 1993, BJP's Purnima Sethi won from the Kalkaji seat whereas a Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP alliance candidate, the current president of the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, Harmeet Singh Kalka, won from the Kalkaji assembly seat in 2013. After this, in the 2015 elections, AAP candidate Avtar Singh won this seat.
#WATCH | #DelhiElections2025 | BJP candidate from Kalkaji assembly constituency, Ramesh Bidhuri says, " i thank the bjp leadership for showing trust in me to reclaim the kalkaji assembly seat. delhi is suffering because of arvind kejriwal. the people of kalkaji have also faced… pic.twitter.com/izdEgNddoO
— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2025
Previous Election Result Of Kalkaji Seat
| Candidate | Party | Votes received |
| Atishi | Aam Aadmi Party | 55,897 |
| Dharambir Singh | BJP | 44,504 |
| Shivani Chopra | Congress | 4,965 |
This year, Congress gave a ticket to Alka Lamba, who is not from the area and will likely bank on local Congress leaders and Chopra for her poll campaigns. Although his candidacy is seen as a strategic move by the Congress to challenge the AAP's dominance in the constituency.
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