In a massive shock for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), former Delhi minister Satyender Jain has lost from the Shakur Basti assembly constituency. BJP's Karnail Singh won in style as he defeated Jain by a margin of more than 19,000 votes.
Karnail Singh secured 52,313 votes as against Satyendar Jain's 32,977 votes. Congress' Satish Kumar Luthra could bag only 5,364 votes, according to the Election Commission of India website.
The constituency witnessed a tight contest between former Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain, BJP's Karnail Singh, and Congress' Satish Luthra. The counting of votes is currently underway in the national capital.
Shakur Basti was Satyender Jain's bastion since 2013, when the AAP formed the government for the first time in Delhi. In 2013, the senior AAP leader won by a margin of 7,062 votes against BJP's Shyam Lal Garg.
In 2015, Satyendar Jain won by a much lower margin of 3,133 votes against BJP's Dr SC Vats. In the 2020 assembly polls, Jain won against BJP's Dr SC Vas by a margin of 7,592 votes.
The possibility of Jain's fourth term was tarnished due to his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in May 2022 on allegations of money laundering.
During his time in prison, Jain resigned from his ministerial position in February 2023. He was in custody for over 2 years till October 2024. Besides this, the AAP lost all three wards within the assembly constituency to the BJP in the 2022 Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections.
The residents of Shakur Basti have an array of complaints against the current AAP dispensation -- inadequate infrastructure in slum clusters, apprehensions regarding demolitions, and lack of access to basic amenities.
Voting across all 70 assembly seats in Delhi took place on Wednesday in a single phase.