LS counting: Gautam Gambhir leads as early trends favour BJP in Delhi

BJP candidate and former international cricketer Gautam Gambhir

Former India cricketer and BJP candidate Gautam Gambhir leads from the East Delhi constituency over Aam Aadmi Party's Atishi and Congress candidate Arvinder Singh Lovely in the early trends in the Lok Sabha election results.

The incumbent BJP is leading in initial trends for counting of votes in three Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, followed by AAP in those constituencies, officials said.

Maheish Girri of BJP won the East Delhi seat defeating AAP candidate in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. In 2019 elections BJP opted for Gautam Gambhir as his replacement after the party announced him as official BJP candidate from East Delhi.

Also read: Lok Sabha Election Results 2019: Smriti Irani leads Rahul Gandhi; twitter goes beserk!

Gambhir- Atishi spat
During the campaign phase, East Delhi AAP candidate Atishi claimed that pamphlets containing "obscene and derogatory" remarks against her had been distributed in the constituency by her BJP rival Gautam Gambhir. She broke down in a press conference called by her party while showing the pamphlet to the press. The charge was vehemently denied by the cricket star turned politician Gautam Gambhir who said we would quit the race if the allegation was proved. Gambhir also posted tweets accusing AAP of making up the allegations in order to try and win the election.

Sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma is leading against his AAP rival Balbir Singh Jakhar by 3,319 votes in the West Delhi Lok Sabha seat while sitting MP Ramesh Bidhuri was leading against his AAP rival Raghav Chadha by 11,600 votes in the South Delhi Lok Sabha seat, according to officials BJP candidates were also leading in South Delhi and North West Delhi parliamentary constituencies.

NCT OF Delhi result status

(Updated: 12: 10 pm, Courtesy: Results.eci.gov.in)

In North West Delhi, saffron party's BJP candidate Hans Raj Hans was ahead of AAP's Gagan Singh by 11,070 votes, they said.

Counting is underway for all seven parliamentary constituencies in Delhi to decide the fate of 164 candidates, who contested the Lok Sabha elections here on May 12.

Also read: Mumbai Lok Sabha Election Result 2019 Live Update

Over 1.43 crore people were eligible to vote in the polls in Delhi, out of which 60.21 per cent had exercised their franchise.

The elections for the seven parliamentary seats was largely a triangular contest among the incumbent BJP, a spirited Congress and the AAP - the ruling party in Delhi.

Prominent names who were in the fray include former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan and cricketer-turned BJP leader Gautam Gambhir. Besides Dikshit, who is pitted against BJP lawmaker Manoj Tiwari (from North East Delhi), BJP's sitting MP Meenakshi Lekhi, Olympian boxer Vijender Singh (South Delhi), who made his electoral debut, and AAP's Atishi are also in the fray.

While the BJP, which had won all seven seats in the 2014 polls, is keen to regain the turf, the Congress, that ended up at the third spot in the last Lok Sabha elections, is looking to bounce back.

(with inputs from wires)

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