Delhi Election: BJP Faces Protest Over Mangolpuri Candidate Change, Protestors Say ‘We Don’t Want Outsider’
Delhi Election 2025: The BJP's candidate lists have sparked discontent among some leaders and supporters. Raj Kumar Chauhan's nomination in Mangolpuri led to protest at the party office.
Delhi Election 2025: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) announced its candidates for 59 constituencies ahead of the Delhi Assembly elections in 2025, releasing three lists. However, the announcement has sparked discontent among some party leaders and supporters. The BJP fielded Raj Kumar Chauhan from the Mangolpuri constituency, replacing its 2020 candidate, Karam Singh Karma.
The decision has led to protest by Karam's supporters, who expressed their anger at the BJP office, chanting slogans such as, "We don’t want an outsider leader."
During the 2020 elections, Mangolpuri, a reserved constituency for Scheduled Castes, saw Karam Singh Karma as the BJP candidate. Karam secured 44,038 votes but was defeated by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Rakhi Birla, who garnered 74,154 votes. Congress candidate Rajesh Lilothia and BSP's Murari Lal received 4,073 and 2,491 votes, respectively.
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Delhi Election 2025: BJP Pacifies Karawal Nagar MLA Mohan Bisht After Replacing Him With Kapil Mishra
The BJP's candidate list also included Kapil Mishra for the Karawal Nagar seat, sidelining sitting MLA Mohan Singh Bisht. Bisht, emotional over the decision, expressed his disappointment. To pacify him, the BJP issued a third list and fielded him from the Mustafabad constituency.
Speaking to ABP News, Bisht broke down after the BJP replaced him on its second candidate list and remarked, "Definitely it is painful when hard work does not yield desired results. But this party's decision, I will fight Mustafabad and win."
BREAKING | टिकट कटने से नाराज मोहन बिष्ट abp न्यूज़ से बातचीत के दौरान हुए भावुक@akhileshanandd @DivyankarTiwari https://t.co/smwhXUROiK #BJP #Delhi #DelhiNews #MohanSinghBisht #DelhiElections2025 pic.twitter.com/mJJjnpe39A
— ABP News (@ABPNews) January 12, 2025
He expressed his intention to contest as an independent candidate but later agreed to move to the Mustafabad seat.
Mohan Bisht defeated AAP's Durgesh Pathak in 2020 from the Karawal Nagar seat and had also contested against Kapil Mishra in 2015 when Kapil Mishra was an AAP member.
With protests brewing over ticket allotment, the BJP faces the task of quelling internal dissent to ensure a united front.