[2] Sawhney contested first municipal corporation election in 1977 from Mori Gate ward and lost by 100 votes.
In 1983, he won the municipal election from same ward and was made chairman of Civil Lines zone from 1983 to 1990.
[3] In the 2003 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, he defeated runner-up Dharamvir Sharma of the BJP by a margin of 10,866 votes.
[4] In the 2008 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, he defeated his closest rival Praveen Khandelwa of the Bharatiya Janata Party by a margin of 8,019 votes.
[5] In 2013 Delhi Legislative Assembly election, he defeated Suman Kumar Gupta, also of BJP, by a margin of 8,243 votes.