BJP released their first list of 29 candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections. While Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma is pitted against Arvind Kejriwal, Ramesh Bidhuri will be contesting against Delhi CM Atishi.
The BJP released its first list of 29 candidates for the upcoming Delhi Assembly election a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a blistering attack against the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Former MP Parvesh Sahib Singh has been fielded from New Delhi, where he will take on AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and former MP Sandeep Dikshit of the Congress. Mr. Singh is the son of former Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma while Mr. Dikshit is the son of former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. The AAP leader had last month termed the battle for the constituency, which he has held since 2013, as a contest between the “sons of Chief Ministers and the common man”.
BJP releases first list of 29 candidates for Delhi polls
Another seat that will see a three-way fight is Kalkaji, where the BJP has pitted former MP Ramesh Bidhuri against senior AAP leader and Chief Minister Atishi and Congress’s women’s wing president Alka Lamba. Congress leader Danish Ali termed the BJP’s decision to field Mr. Bidhuri as “shameful” and accused the party of having “tarnished the entire democracy”. Mr. Bidhuri’s remarks against Mr. Ali in Parliament had led to a furore in 2023.
The list includes eight leaders who had switched over from the AAP and Congress, including former Delhi Ministers Kailash Gahlot and Raaj Kumar Anand, and former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely, as well as three national-level office bearers — Manjinder Singh Sirsa, Dushyant Kumar Gautam, and Ashish Sood.
Talking about the composition of the nominees, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, who has decided not to contest the election, said, “It is a combination of youth and experience. There are women candidates and former MPs. We are confident that they will win and set the stage for a double-engine government in Delhi.”
The BJP, which last held the reins of Delhi in 1998 and won three and eight seats in the elections of 2015 and 2020, is looking to secure a majority in the 70-member Assembly, the election for which is due in February. The AAP has already announced candidates on all seats while the Congress has released 48 names so far.
Recent joinees
Mr. Lovely, a former Delhi Minister, has been fielded from east Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar, where he will replace the legislator — BJP’s Anil Bajpai — who had defeated him in 2020.
Tarvinder Singh Marwah, who was elected to the Assembly thrice on Congress tickets and joined the BJP in 2022, has been fielded from Jangpura, where he will take on senior AAP leader and former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia.
Mr. Gahlot and Mr. Anand, who served as Cabinet Ministers in the AAP government, will fight from Bijwasan and Patel Nagar respectively.
Chhattarpur MLA Kartar Singh, who also switched to the BJP from AAP, has been fielded from the same seat.
Former AAP MLA ND Sharma has been fielded from Badarpur, former Congress councilor Kumari Rinku from Seemapuri and former Congress legislator Rajkumar Chauhan from Mangolpuri.
BJP national secretary Mr. Sirsa will contest from Rajouri Garden, former Rajya Sabha member Dushyant Kumar Gautam from Karol Bagh and BJP’s Goa in-charge Ashish Sood will fight from Janakpuri.
MLAs retained
Among the sitting MLAs, the BJP has retained OP Sharma (Vishwas Nagar), Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Vijender Gupta (Rohini), Ajay Mahawar (Ghonda) and Jitendra Mahajan (Rohtash Nagar). Former Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay has been fielded from Malviya Nagar.
Published – January 04, 2025 01:37 pm IST
