Delhi CM Atishi wins Kalkaji seat by 3,500 votes against BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri

Atishi, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader, won the Kalkaji constituency in the assembly election by a margin of 3,500 votes on Saturday.

She defeated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Lok Sabha MP Ramesh Bidhuri. Initially, as the Election Commission of India began counting the votes, Bidhuri was leading, but Atishi gained ground and took the lead in the final rounds of counting.

The electoral contest in Kalkaji was closely watched, with Atishi, a senior AAP leader, facing off against Bidhuri, making it one of the key races in the election.

Atishi was sworn in as Delhi’s chief minister in September 2024, following Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation, making her the youngest ever to hold the position at 43.

In the 2025 assembly election, she sought a second consecutive term from the Kalkaji constituency, aiming to reinforce her leadership and uphold the Aam Aadmi Party’s governance model.

Atishi’s political journey has been grounded in policy advocacy and grassroots activism. She joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in 2013, contributing to the development of its policies.

In 2015, she took a prominent role in the Jal Satyagraha movement in Madhya Pradesh, standing alongside activist Alok Agarwal in the fight for water rights.

Atishi faced her first major electoral challenge in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, where she contested from East Delhi but was defeated by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Gautam Gambhir. Undeterred, she made a strong comeback in 2020, securing the Kalkaji assembly seat with a victory margin of over 11,000 votes.