New Delhi: Somnath Bharti of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) lost to Bharatiya Janata Party’s Satish Upadhyay by 2,131 votes in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar constituency, according to the Election Commission.
Bharti, the outgoing MLA, got 37,433, while Upadhyay tallied 39,564 votes. Upadhyay has previously served as the Delhi BJP chief between 2014 and 2016.
Meanwhile, YouTuber Meghnad S., who was contesting as an independent candidate, had a disastrous electoral debut as he ended fifth with 192 votes.
The Congress party had fielded Jitender Kumar Kochar, who came came a distant third with 6,770 votes.
Located in South Delhi, Malviya Nagar is named after freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malaviya. Falling under the New Delhi Parliamentary constituency, Malviya Nagar is surrounded by a number of unauthorised colonies.
Meghnad, a digital media journalist and public policy professional, was allotted a pen as the election symbol by the Election Commission. Calling himself ‘India’s first YouTuber Neta’, he had also released a campaign song on his YouTube channel, ‘Meghnerd’.
The song “Dilli Ka Normie Neta” talks about Delhi’s drains, water and air issues. Meghnad had previously shared with ThePrint how difficult it was for independent candidates like him to get clearances to carry out campaigning or organise public rallies.
A lawyer-turned-politician, Bharti has been representing the seat since 2013. In 2013, Bharti had defeated former Delhi mayor and the BJP’s Arti Mehra, and Congress leader Kiran Walia. In 2015, he was pitted against Nandini Sharma of the BJP and comfortably won the seat.
In 2020, Bharti had defeated BJP’s Shailender Singh Monti. Bharti had garnered over 50 percent of the vote share in the 2015 and 2020 Delhi assembly elections.
Ahead of the 2025 elections, the BJP accused AAP MLAs including Bharti of graft, a charge denied by it.
Making his debut as an MLA candidate, Upadhyay, on the other hand, has also released a “development roadmap” for Malviya Nagar. The BJP candidate has promised a ‘single-window’ solution for all the problems if voted to power.
After his win, Upadhyay expressed gratitude to the people of Malviya Nagar Assembly for electing him. In a message on ‘X’, the BJP leader also thanked the prime minister, the Union home minister, the BJP chief, and the party’s top leadership and workers.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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Meghnad is a joke. A wannabe liberal whose only goal in life is to ingratiate himself with stalwarts with the liberal-secular cabal. His attempt at electoral politics is just a gimmick.