Delhi elections: BJP wins big in riot-hit regions; Kapil Mishra among winners
BJP gets highest lead in Karawal Nagar and Mustafabad among northeast Delhi seats where Kapil Mishra and Mohan Singh Bisht won by 1,07,367 and 85,215 votes respectively
The BJP, which is set to return to power in Delhi, has swept three of the four Assembly constituencies in the north-eastern pocket of the national capital, which witnessed violent riots in 2020.
According to data by shared by the Election Commission (EC), the saffron party registered the highest lead in Karawal Nagar and Mustafabad where its candidates Kapil Mishra and Mohan Singh Bisht won by 1,07,367 and 85,215 votes respectively.
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Win of Hindutva pitch?
While Mishra defeated AAP candidate Manoj Kumar Tyagi by 23,355 votes, Bisht won against AAP’s Adeel Ahmad by a margin of 17, 578 votes.
At least 53 people were killed, and many were injured in communal riots that broke out in northeast Delhi on February 24, 2020, following clashes between supporters and opponents of the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Mishra, in a controversial speech before the riots, had given an ultimatum, threatening to remove those protesting on roads against the CAA in Delhi's Jaffrabad. The speech was blamed by a section to be among the triggers for the communal violence.
Shah’s promise
Asked about his Hindutva image in the party in a recent interview, Mishra said he has received "positive feedback" for it. "We are not affected by the negative comments," he said.
"Hindutva is not an election issue for us, it is our way of life. And if we have to pay a price for it in politics, we are willing to pay that price," the BJP leader had said.
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While the BJP avoided making any reference to the riots during campaigning, Home Minister Amit Shah hinted at it towards the end of the campaign. During his public meetings in Mustafabad and Karawal Nagar on February 1, Shah had accused the AAP of being responsible for the riots.
Asserting his conviction to implement the National Register of Citizens, Shah had promised voters that the BJP will “selectively expel” all Rohingyas and Bangladeshis once it forms government in Delhi.
AAP retains Seelampur
In the Ghonda constituency too, the BJP’s Ajay Mahawar won by 79,987 votes and a margin of 26,058 votes against AAP contender Gaurav Sharma.
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Seelampur was the only constituency which the AAP won in north-eastern Delhi. Here AAP’s Chaudhary Zubai Ahmad won by 79,000 votes against BJP’s Anil Kumar Sharma,
