Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Kailash Gahlot was on Saturday leading the Aam Aadmi Party’s Surender Bharadwaj in the Delhi Assembly elections.

Gahlot was ahead with a margin of 9,833 votes in the Bijwasan seat after 16 rounds of counting at 2.50 pm, data from the Election Commission showed. While the BJP candidate had secured 62,377 votes, Bharadwaj had bagged 52,544 votes.

The Congress’ Devinder Kumar Sehrawat was in third place with 9,039 votes.

Follow Scroll’s coverage of the 2025 Delhi Assembly election result here.

In November, Gahlot, a former Delhi minister, quit the Aam Aadmi Party and joined the BJP. In his resignation letter to Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, Gahlot said: “Political ambitions have overtaken our commitment towards people, leaving many promises unfulfilled.”

He also criticised the Aam Aadmi Party’s focus on political conflicts, particularly with the BJP-led Union government, stating it has “severely crippled” its ability to serve Delhi residents effectively.

In response to his resignation, Aam Aadmi Party leader Durgesh Pathak had said that Gahlot had been facing income tax raids and was left with no option but to join the BJP. “This is what the BJP does – they used the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation to win elections,” he said.

In March 2024, Gahlot appeared before the Enforcement Directorate for questioning in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case, in which other party leaders, including Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, were arrested.

In 2018, the Income Tax Department raided several locations linked to Gahlot and his family, alleging tax evasion of several crores.

This is a developing story. It will be updated as new details are available.

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