Can AAP's Saurabh Bharadwaj pull off a hat-trick from GK?

The 2015 Assembly elections in south Delhi's upscale Greater Kailash grabbed the limelight as then President Pranab Mukherjee's daughter Sharmishtha Mukherjee entered the political fray against AAP's spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj, who, however, won the seat.

The Greater Kailash Assembly constituency was considered to be one of the safest seats for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as it was represented by the saffron party's former Chief Ministerial candidate Vijay Kumar Malhotra in 2008.

However, in the 2015 Assembly polls, the AAP's Bharadwaj riding high on the success in the 2013 polls once again won the seat by a margin of over 14,000 votes against his rival and BJP candidate Rakesh Kumar Gullaiya, while Mukherjee came a distant third with only over 6,000 votes.

The AAP's candidate got an over 53 per cent vote share that comprises areas like Asiad Village Complex, Shahpur Jat, Greater Kailash 1, Zamrudpur, East of Kailash, Kailash Colony, Sant Nagar, Panchsheel Park, Panchsheel Enclave, Masjid Moth, Krishi Vihar, Pamposh Enclave, Chirag Enclave, Savitri Nagar, Sheikh Sarai, Khirki Extension, C.R. Park, Greater Kailash 2, Kalkaji with a population of mainly businessmen, traders and government officials.

According to Election Commission officials G.K. Assembly constituency which comes under the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat has over 1.79 lakh voters that includes 95,000 males and about 83,000 females.

Before the 2015 Assembly polls, Bharadwaj had defeated Malhotra's son Ajay Kumar Malhotra by a margin of over 13,000 votes in the 2013 Assembly polls.

Bharadwaj is again seeking re-election from the seat to complete his hat-trick from there. Bharadwaj, who was appointed the party's spokesperson, is considered to be a person with a clean image and has worked for the development of the area.

However, Ajay Malhotra is again trying to get the ticket from the BJP to take forward the legacy of his father in the national capital.

Meanwhile, according to Congress leaders, Mukherjee is not keen to contest the assembly polls this year. In the February 8 Assembly polls for the 70-member Delhi Assembly it will be interesting to see if Bharadwaj can complete a hat-trick from the Greater Kailash seat.

The AAP had won 67 out of 70 seats in the 2015 polls while the BJP managed to win three seats and the Congress scored a nil. The counting of votes in Delhi will take place on February 11.IANS