Here is a list of key contests in Delhi elections:
- Former West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma from BJP will contest against AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi assembly constituency.
- Former South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri, representing the saffron party, will contest against Chief Minister Atishi in Kalkaji. The Congress has nominated Alka Lamba as its candidate for the constituency.
- Former Congress MLA Tarwinder Singh Marwah who is now with BJP, will contest from Jangpura against former Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.
Meanwhile, four former Delhi ministers – Kailash Gahlot and Raaj Kumar Anand, who served in the outgoing AAP government, along with Arvinder Singh Lovely and Rajkumar Chauhan, who held key portfolios during Sheila Dikshit’s government from 2003 to 2013 – have also been given tickets by the BJP.ALSO READ: Delhi Elections: BJP releases first list of candidates; Parvesh Verma to contest against Kejriwal from New Delhi
Lovely has replaced sitting MLA Anil Kumar Bajpai in Gandhi Nagar. Bajpai was elected on AAP ticket in 2015 but later switched sides and won the 2020 poll as a BJP candidate.
Gahlot’s seat has been shifted from Najafgarh to Bijwasan, while Anand will contest from the reserved constituency of Patel Nagar. Lovely will contest from his former stronghold of Gandhi Nagar, while Chauhan will run from the reserved Mangolpuri constituency.
Sitting BJP MLAs, including the Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta, veteran Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Mahawar, and Jitender Mahajan, will re-contest from Rohini, Vishwas Nagar, Ghonda, and Rohtas Nagar, respectively.Former BJP MLAs Kulwant Rana, Manoj Shokeen, Anil Sharma, and Manjinder Singh Sirsa will contest from Rithala, Nangloi Jat, RK Puram, and Rajouri Garden, respectively.Narayan Dutt Sharma, a former AAP MLA from Badarpur who joined BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, has been fielded from Badarpur.
Several candidates, such as Ashok Goel (Model Town), Raj Kumar Bhatia (Adarsh Nagar), and Rekha Gupta (Shalimar Bagh), have previously contested assembly polls but were unsuccessful.
Rekha Gupta is a municipal councillor from Pitampura. Former South MCD mayor Khushiram Chunar has been named from the reserved seat of Ambedkar Nagar. Kartar Singh Tanwar, AAP MLA from Chhatarpur who joined BJP a few months ago, has been fielded from the same constituency. Former Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay will contest from Malviya Nagar.
Former municipal councillor from Congress, Kumari Rinku, is BJP candidate from the reserved constituency of Seemapuri.
Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said the 29 candidates announced by the party for Delhi Assembly elections are strong and will act as catalyst of change in the city.
The party has yet to announce its candidates from Karawal Nagar and Laxmi Nagar seats, which were won by its sitting MLAs Mohan Singh Bisht and Abhay Verma, respectively, in the 2020 polls.
(With TOI inputs)
