Margin of votes explains BJP's poor show in Delhi assembly elections

NEW DELHI: In the recently concluded Delhi assembly elections, AAP won 62 seats by securing 4.9 million votes, while the BJP was able to garner 3.57 million votes. However, the saffron party could win only eight seats.If Delhi is presented as a single constituency then BJP would have defeated the Aam Aadmi Party in the 2020 assembly elections by adding 1.33 million — 15.06% — more voters. In the previous assembly elections in 2015, the BJP had fallen short by 1.98 million — 22% — votes and won a mere three seats in the 70-seat assembly.The massive difference between the seats won and votes secured by the BJP can be understood by breaking down the result constituency-wise. There were 11 seats which BJP lost to AAP by a margin of fewer than 10,000 votes. Out of these 11 seats, there were seven seats which BJP lost by a margin of fewer than 5,000 votes. There were 14 seats which AAP won by a margin of 10,000 to 15,000 votes.Bijwasan in south-west Delhi and Laxmi Nagar in east Delhi saw the toughest contest between the two parties. While AAP won Bijwasan by a mere margin of 753 seats, it lost Laxmi Nagar to BJP by only 880 votes.Interestingly, 14 lakh new voters were added to the voter list in Delhi since 2015. In the last five years, the BJP was able to add 7.85 lakh more voters to its 2015 tally. However, the Aam Aadmi Party could add only 96,125 additional voters.