Both the BJP and the Congress had given tickets to the next generations of well-known political families. But voters seemed to be firmly against the idea of a ‘son rise’ in the Capital.
Barring former Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma’s son Pravesh Verma, no other politician’s son managed a victory in the Assembly elections.
The BJP had fielded Ajay Malhotra (son of V.K. Malhotra) and Rajiv Babbar (son of O.P. Babbar) from Greater Kailash and Tilak Nagar respectively. The Congress had given tickets to Jag Pravesh (son of former MP Sajjan Kumar), Vinay Mishra (son of West Delhi MP Mahabal Mishra) and Vipin Sharma (son of former MLA Ram Babu Sharma) from Sangam Vihar, Palam and Rohtas Nagar Assembly constituencies respectively.
Ajay Malhotra lost to Saurabh Bhardawaj of the Aam Admi Party by a margin of around 13,000 votes, while Delhi BJP spokesperson Rajiv Babbar lost to Jarnail Singh of the AAP with a margin of over 2,000 votes.
While the BJP candidates managed to get third place, the Congress candidates came third or fourth. Jag Pravesh secured third place with 16,435 votes. Vinay Mishra managed to get over 19,000 votes, but was relegated to the fourth place.
Similarly, Congress candidate Vipin Sharma, who became an MLA by winning a by-election after his father and sitting MLA Ram Babu Sharma died in 2009, lost from Rohtas Nagar. He stood third with over 32,000 votes.
AAP candidate from Karawal Nagar Kapil Mishra, son of BJP leader and former East Delhi Mayor Delhi Annapurna Mishra, lost to sitting BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht.
Apart from sons, North Delhi Mayor and Sahib Singh Verma’s brother Azad Singh also lost from the Mundka Assembly seat by a margin of over 7,000 votes. He lost to Rambir Shokeen, the only Independent to have registered a win this time round.
The only victorious son, Pravesh Sharma, won around 4,500 votes.
