Kapil Mishra, the firebrand BJP leader who replaced sitting MLA and won

After winning the 2015 polls, Mishra was appointed as Minister for Water and Tourism in the AAP government. He was sacked in 2017 and was subsequently suspended from AAP after he alleged that then health minister Satyendar Jain had helped AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal settle land deals worth Rs 50 crore for his brother-in-law.

In 2019, he joined the BJP and went on to unsuccessfully contest the 2020 Assembly polls from Model Town.

On February 23, 2020, in a controversial speech, Mishra threatened to remove those protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Jaffrabad. The next day, riots had broken out in Northeast Delhi.

Following the riots, Mishra was questioned by the Delhi Police as part of its investigation. Mishra had later said, “There is no criminal case against me… this image has been created, these are all just allegations.”

According to party insiders, the BJP has been kept slowly integrating Mishra into the party, owing to his “outsider” image among the state unit’s faithful. But in August 2023, the process was complete after he was appointed as Delhi BJP vice president. According to party insiders, he had ‘impressed” the party leadership with his ability to pull crowds in the 2022 Gujarat Assembly polls.

Mishra was nominated as the BJP candidate from Karawal Nagar on the basis of internal surveys conducted by the party, which hinted that voters preferred his “firebrand Hindutva-cum-Purvanchali face” over sitting MLA Mohan Singh Bisht.

The decision did send some initial jitters among the old guard, with Bisht terming it a “big mistake”. However, all was well once Bisht was fielded by the party from neighbouring Mustafabad.

“He is my elder brother. He has been here for the last 25 years, and it’s natural to feel the way he did after being in one place for so long. I am going to campaign for him and he will do the same. It was party’s decision as we wanted to win both seats,” Mishra had told The Indian Express.