2019 Lok Sabha Election Results for East Delhi: Debutant politician Gautam Gambhir defeats AAP's Atishi Marlena by almost 4 lakh votes

The voter turnout for Delhi was recorded as 60.21%. The constituency saw 61.80 per cent women exercising their right to vote as compared to 61.50 per cent of male voters.

A tough battle was fought by three equally well-known candidates who are vying for the seat in East Delhi for the Lok Sabha elections.

There was a triangular contest between BJP's Gautam Gambhir, Congress's Arvinder Singh Lovely and AAP's Atishi Marlena. 

RESULT: BJP's Gautam Gambhir defeated AAP's Atishi Marlena by a margin of 391222 votes

In 2014, BJP's Maheish Girri had won the polls winning 47.81 % of the vote share. AAP's Rajmohan Gandhi had come second  with 31.9% of the votes while Congress' Sandeep Dikshit came third receiving 16.98% of the votes.

Poll campaign:

Battle-tested Arvinder Singh Lovely has been a well known politician, having been the youngest lawmaker to have been elected to the Delhi Legislative Assembly and being a 4-time MLA, and holding several portfolios during his tenures under Sheila Dikshit led government. However, it were Gautam Gambhir and Atishi Marlena who stole most of the headlines nationwide for their verbal attacks at each other and a controversy.

AAP's Atishi Marlena has been credited by the party-led Delhi government for her work to improve education in government schools. Several politicians in the Opposition supported her bid to contest the polls. They include National Conference's Omar Abdullah, independent candidates Jignesh Mevani and Prakash Raj. Celebrities such as Swara Bhaskara campaigned for her.

Gautam Gambhir, who was vocal about his opinions on several issues concerning the nation and would argue his case on Twitter with other politicians and celebrities, had many wondering he would enter politics. He joined BJP in March and was chosen to run for East Delhi.  Before joining politics, during an exclusive interview in January to Republic TV’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, he asked people of India, 'Will you vote for me?'

Controversy:

Gambhir continued warring with politicians on social media over his difference in opinion, including with Omar Abdullah for his 'separate Prime Minister' comment and with PDP's Mehbooba Mufti for her comment over Article 370. He has made his campaign for East Delhi about being a 'Delhi boy' and wanting to transform Delhi.

READ HERE: It's Elections And Not Nomination For A Politics-ready Gautam Gambhir

However, the campaigning took an ugly turn after AAP and Atishi Marlena alleged that Gambhir distributed derogatory pamphlets about her. Gambhir denied the charge and filed a defamation suit against the party, while AAP has sent a legal notice to him demanding an apology.