Migrants To Kingmakers: How Purvanchali Voters Hold Sway In At Least 25 Seats In Delhi
AAP has fielded at least 12 Purvanchali faces, including Somnath Bharti in Malviya Nagar and Vinay Mishra in Dwarka. The BJP has left two seats for its allies, JD(U) and LJP to target Purvanchalis.

In the run-up to the Delhi Assembly Elections, the three major parties- the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are trying hard to woo voters ahead of the polling on February 5.
While the parties have come up with poll promises, schemes targetting women and poor or freebies, a significant yet silent vote bank, remains a key for parties in at least two dozen seats in Delhi.
The Purvanchali voters, a term loosely used to define people from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, play a crucial role in Delhi assembly elections as the group dominates in at least 25 seats out of the 70 assembly seats in Delhi, according to an assessment of the 2011 census.
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The seats, dominated by the Purvanchalis, are spread out in the peripheries of Delhi, including areas in North East Delhi, North Delhi and North West Delhi.
How Are Parties Catering To Poorvanchali Voters?
The influence of the Poorvanchali voters is not a hidden fact for parties as the BJP and AAP have taken steps to woo the Poorvanchali voters.
The Aam Aadmi Party has formed a special task force to attract Purvanchal voters residing in the capital, as per party sources. AAP has formed seven teams, under Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh's leadership, to cover the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in the capital and connect with voters from the Purvanchal community.
According to a report in the Business Standard, Sanjay Singh has been continuously holding meetings with the task force members across Delhi and similar meetings are being held at the local levels across the capital.
Meanwhile, the BJP, who is eyeing a comeback in this election, has also formed a team of Purvanchali leaders to win over the Purvanchal vote bank. The saffron party has assigned key responsibilities to around 100 leaders from UP and Bihar, who will campaign in Delhi assembly polls.
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The choice of Purvanchalis to woo voters isn't limited to just campaigns. Both the BJP and AAP have named Purvanchali candidates.
While AAP has fielded at least 12 Purvanchali faces, including Somnath Bharti in Malviya Nagar and Vinay Mishra in Dwarka, the BJP has left two seats for its allies. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) is contesting in Burari, while the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) is fighting the Deoli seat in view of the Purvanchali voters.
Influence Of Purvanchalis In Delhi
The growing influence of Purvanchali voters from the Hindi belt of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh is evident in Delhi. While the tale of migration began from Bihar in the 1980s and 1990s, the Purvanchalis evolved from being 'outsiders' to 'leaders' in a considerable number of seats in the capital.
As per Delhi’s Human Development Report (DHDR) 2013, 47 per cent of the migrants are from UP, while 31 per cent is from Bihar.
There are around 25 seats in the capital dominated by the Poorvanchalis, including Burari, Seemapuri, Gokalpur, Mustafabad and Karawal Nagar.
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the number of MLAs in Delhi with a Purvanchali background in the 2020 assembly polls was 10. The number of MLAs was 9 in the 2015 assembly election.
It is not a coincidence that while the BJP changed sitting MPs in the majority of the seats in Delhi for the Lok Sabha elections, Manoj Tiwari remained the party's choice in the North East Delhi seat. In the 2024 elections, Tiwari defeated Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar, who is also from Bihar's Begusarai, by a margin of 1,38,778 votes.
While the BJP sitting MP got 8,24,451 votes, Kanhiya received 6,85,673 votes. In 2014, Manoj Tiwari won the seat with 45.38 per cent of votes, defeating AAP’s Anand Kumar. In the 2019 elections, the BJP leader defeated former chief minister and Congress leader Sheila Dikshit by 3,40,000 votes.
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