Kapil Mishra, the controversial AAP leader who defected to the BJP in 2019, lost from Model Town constituency to AAP’s Akhilesh Pati Tripathi.
The former Karawal Nagar MLA has been in the media glare ever since he rebelled against the party in May 2017, accusing chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendar Jain of corruption.
As a result, he was sacked as a minister and suspended from the party’s primary membership.
File image of Kapil Mishra. PTI
Mishra first rose to prominence in 2010 when he protested against the alleged irregularities in the preparations for the Delhi Commonwealth Games.
However, his association with public causes dates back to the early 2000s when he founded the Youth for Justice, an action group that led protests across Delhi during the Jessica Lal murder trial. Moreover, as a citizen journalist he also exposed the rampant encroachments along the Yamuna river.
After associating himself with the AAP, he contested the 2013 polls but narrowly lost to veteran BJP leader Mohan Singh Bisht. He, however, made a stunning comeback in the next election, defeating Bisht by a margin of over 44,000 votes. He was made a cabinet minister and given the charge of the water resources ministry.
However, he was sacked from the position in 2017 after he accused Kejriwal of accepting a Rs 2 crore bribe from Jain. The allegation, however, has never been proven, with the official investigation finding no proof against the chief minister.
In a dramatic change of heart, Mishra became an ardent Narendra Modi supporter after his rebellion. Not only did he vocally support the BJP on national and local issues, he also campaign in support of the saffron party during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In August 2019, he was expelled from the Delhi Assembly under the anti-defection law. Subsequently, he joined the BJP. Recently, he came under fire for his tweet comparing 8 February (the day of voting) to an India versus Pakistan match. The Election Commission later imposed a 48-hour campaign ban on him.