Parvesh tops his own record

NEW DELHI: Throughout Thursday, the only intriguing point in the West Delhi constituency was who would be the runner-up. There wasn’t any doubt that BJP’s Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, son of a former Delhi chief minister, would retain the seat that he won in 2014. As things turned out, it was with ridiculous ease that Verma crossed the line, doubling his previous margin of 2.6 lakh votes to an astounding 5.7 lakh this year.
The competition for second place was more intense, with Mahabal Mishra of Congress trailing AAP’s Balbir Singh Jakhar for two rounds before the veteran Mishra finally consolidated a slender lead with 19.9% votes, slightly more than the 14.3% he got in 2014. Jakhar’s tally slipped to 17.4% from the 28.4% that AAP had got in the previous contest. The combined vote share of Mishra and Jakhar wouldn’t have troubled Verma’s total of 60.1%. “We set targets, but this margin was unexpected even though there was never a doubt that we would win this seat,” said an exultant Verma. “The people’s support was massive; they have shown me and Modiji a lot of love.”