BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi Leads, Congress's Ajay Maken Trailing In New Delhi

Meenakshi Lekhi, the BJP's national spokesperson, is seeking re-election from the New Delhi constituency. A Supreme Court lawyer, Meenakshi Lekhi defeated veteran Congress leader Ajay Maken by over 1.5 lakh votes in her debut Lok Sabha election in 2014. In the current election, Ms Lekhi is set to repeat a win, as she is currently leading from the New Delhi constituency, with more than 2,80,000 votes. Mr Maken is currently trailing behind with around 1,40,000 votes.

She was associated with the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an organisation affiliated with the RSS. She was invited by former BJP president Nitin Gadkari to join the BJP's Mahila Morcha, the party's women's wing. In 2016, she was appointed as the chairperson of the Committee of Privileges of Lok Sabha.

The 52-year-old has been a strong advocate of the Uniform Civil Code. She had defended the government's stand on instant Triple Talaq, calling it an issue of human rights violation.

Just ahead of the 2019 general election, Meenakshi Lekhi asked the Supreme Court for criminal contempt action against Congress president Rahul Gandhi after he attributed the statement, "chowkidar chor hai (watchman is a thief)" to the top court in its order on the Rafale case in April.

Meenakshi Lekhi graduated from Delhi University's Hindu College. She completed her LLB Degree from the Campus Law Centre and registered with Delhi Bar Council in 1990. Ms Lekhi comes from a family of lawyers. Her husband Aman Lekhi was appointed Additional Solicitor General in February last year. Her father-in-law Pran Nath Lekhi was a renowned lawyer who represented Satwant Singh, one of the bodyguards who assassinated former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.