Lok Sabha polls in pictures: How Delhi is gearing up for 2024 general elections

by Saurav Gupta, Kushan Niyogi

As Delhi gears up to prepare for the greatest festival of democracy on May 25, voters are all set to choose their representatives amid scorching heat.

Thanks to a wide array of party cadres, the rallies look as beautiful and crowded as a wedding about to go off in full swing. From voters parading in Prime Minister Narendra Modi masks to people in attendance prancing about with the flags of the Indian National Congress, events till now have been a cornucopia of colours.

The national capital will go to poll on all of its seven constituencies to decide the fate of the political parties.

The seven constituencies in the Capital include New Delhi, Chandni Chowk, East Delhi, North East Delhi, South Delhi, North West Delhi and West Delhi. From these constituencies, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress, which make up INDIA Alliance, have decided to share seats in a ratio of 4:3, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded six new candidates out of seven.

Only Manoj Tiwari, incumbent MP from North East constituency, will fight to retain his seat. He is contesting for the third term.

The national capital is set to witness a fierce battle between INDIA bloc and BJP in all seven constituencies.

From New Delhi constituency, the BJP has fielded Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of Sushma Swaraj, former External Affairs minister. She is contesting against AAP’s three-term Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti.

East Delhi, on the other hand, is set to witness a great competition unfold between AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar, the Kondli MLA, and BJP’s Harsh Malhotra, who was earlier the mayor of East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC).

However, all eyes are on the North East Delhi seat where Tiwari is set to face Congress’ youth face, Kanhaiya Kumar. Recently, PM Modi conducted a rally in the constituency ahead of the polls, to appeal to residents to vote in favour of Tiwari for the third time.

Previously, in 2019, the BJP had recorded a clean sweep of all the constituencies in the national capital. A similar pattern was also seen in 2014.

The Lok Sabha election may also culminate into the swan song for this general election’s oldest MP candidate, Jai Prakash Agarwal, who is standing for Congress from the Chandni Chowk constituency. He is set to face off against BJP’s Praveen Khandelwal, the founder and general secretary of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAT).

On the other hand, North West Delhi is set to witness former MP from the BJP, Udit Raj, take the fight to the saffron party fighting on a Congress ticket.

He is slated to face off against BJP’s Yogendra Chandolia, former standing committee chairperson of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

With inputs from Pankhuri Jha and Tanisha Mendirata.