The New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency is a strategically important seat for any major party. One of the seven constituencies in Delhi, this Lok Sabha seat will be keenly watched this year as BJP's Bansuri Swaraj begins her electoral career against AAP heavyweight Somnath Bharti. Swaraj and Bharti, both well-known lawyers, will face each other for the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat. Both of them will be fighting the Lok Sabha elections for the first time in 2024.
Sushma Swaraj's Daughter Replaces Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi
Bansuri Swaraj, a Supreme Court lawyer, is the daughter of former External Affairs Minister and Delhi Chief Minister, late Sushma Swaraj. She was appointed the co-convener of the legal cell of the BJP last year. In her electoral debut, she has replaced incumbent MP and the current Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi. An Oxford University Law graduate, Bansuri Swaraj is an additional advocate general in Delhi for the Haryana government. It seems the BJP is banking on her mother's legacy and her presence on the ground in Delhi as it replaced an incumbent minister with a dynast.
AAP Pins Hope On Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti
Like the BJP, the AAP has also selected a candidate with a strong ground presence, who is known for his activism. He, too, is a lawyer, who practices at the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court.
He was appointed the Delhi Minister of Law for a short time. Bharti has had his fair share of controversies with allegations of vigilantism and domestic violence haunting him. In 2016, he was arrested for allegedly damaging AIIMS property.
However, Bharti, since his electoral politics debut in 2013 hasn't let his party down. He won the Malviya Nagar assembly seat thrice in 2013, 2015 and 2020.
New Delhi Lok Sabha Seat
In 1952, the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat was first won by Sucheta Kripalani, who later went on to become the nation's first woman Chief Minister (in Uttar Pradesh), on a Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party ticket. She won the seat again in 1957 on a Congress ticket. She then won the UP Assembly election in 1962 and became the state's CM a year later.
Over the years, the seat has seen several stalwarts such as former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Former J&K Governor, Delhi & Goa LT Governor and Union Minister Jagmohan Malhotra, former Deputy PM Lal Krishna Advani, and former Union Minister Ajay Maken.
The constituency had 16.1 lakh voters in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, of whom 9.2 lakh turned up to vote.