BJP Releases First List Of Candidates For High-Stakes Delhi Election; Parvesh Verma To Face Arvind Kejriwal

Updated: Saturday, January 4, 2025, 13:48 [IST]

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has unveiled its first list of candidates for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. The list includes candidates for 29 out of the 70 seats in the national capital.

In contrast, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already announced its candidates for all constituencies. The elections in Delhi are scheduled for February.

Photo Credit: PTI/https://www.facebook.com/parveshsahibsingh

BJP Targets AAP Strongholds with New Candidate Line-Up

Former BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma will challenge AAP convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi constituency.

Kailash Gehlot, a former Delhi Transport Minister and once a close associate of Arvind Kejriwal, joined the BJP a few months ago after leaving AAP. He will contest from the Bijwasan seat.

Ramesh Bidhuri, who served as BJP MP from South Delhi until 2024, is standing from the Kalkaji constituency, where he will face current Chief Minister Atishi. Bidhuri was not given a ticket for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Congress has fielded Alka Lamba in Kalkaji.

Arvinder Singh Lovely, a minister in Sheila Dikshit's cabinet from 2003 to 2013, joined the BJP last year after leaving Congress. He is now contesting from the Gandhinagar constituency in east Delhi.

The AAP has held power in Delhi since 2015, winning successive Assembly elections with overwhelming majorities. However, the party has not managed to secure a single seat in the Lok Sabha elections since 2014, with the BJP sweeping all seven seats in Delhi.

Meanwhile, reports suggest that Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva will not stand in the upcoming Assembly elections, despite speculation that he might do so.

The forthcoming elections are shaping up to be a closely fought contest between the BJP and AAP. Congress, which governed Delhi for 15 consecutive years, has failed to win any seats in the last two Assembly elections.

Interestingly, despite being allies in the Opposition bloc INDIA, Congress and AAP are competing against each other in these elections, as they did in the Haryana polls last year.