"I want to take all the people of Delhi to see Sheesh Mahal. I am writing a letter to CM Atishi to open the doors of Sheesh Mahal because the people of Delhi want to see what happened to the tax they paid...," said Parvesh Verma, who will take on Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi assembly segment.
" I just hope Arvind Kejriwal doesn't run away from the New Delhi seat... I am setting up a camp soon where I will give employment letters to many people here in New Delhi," Verma said.
The BJP last held power in Delhi city government in November 1998 when the escalating onion price hit the saffron party and Sheika Dikshit led Congress had come to power.
In 2015 and 2020, the Lotus party could not defeat AAP. Hence the coming February polls have a special significance of their own and -- a real Do or Die battle.
After considering various pros and cos, former Lok Sabha MP Parvesh Verma has been now fielded against AAP chief and former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi.
BJP veteran Ramesh Bidhuri, also a former MP, will contest against Delhi's incumbent Chief Minister Atishi in Kalkaji. The saffron party on Saturday, Jan 4 released its first list of 29 candidates for the Delhi elections.
Two former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers Raaj Kumar Anand and Kailash Gahlot, who joined the BJP last year amid a fallout with the leadership, also have been given saffron outfit tickets.
Parvesh Verma is son of Late former CM Sahib Singh Verma, who was a well known Jat leader in the national capital. The entry of Parvesh Verma, who has been accused by the AAP of distributing money to voters, sets up an exciting contest for the high-profile New Delhi constituency.
The Congress has fielded Sandeep Dikshit, the son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, from the seat.
Verma represented West Delhi parliamentary seat between 2014 and 2024 and was often vocal about pro-Hindutva stance. In 2024 Lok Sabha polls, for West Delhi, BJP's Kamaljeet Sehrawat was fielded against AAP nominee Mahabal Mishra.
In 2019, Mahabal Misra was the Congress nominee. BJP’s Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma had polled as high as 60 per cent votes in 2019.
In 2014 too, Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma of BJP had won the seat by bagging 6,51,395 votes. He had humbled AAP's Jarnail Singh and Congress candidate Mahabal Mishra had finished third.
Kejriwal has been the MLA from the New Delhi seat since 2013.
The AAP has also lodged a complaint with the ED against Verma on distributing of cash. The BJP leader has dismissed the claims.
In the first list, the BJP has also dropped its Gandhi Nagar MLA Anil Bajpai and given a ticket to former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely.
The neo-Sikh face of the BJP in Delhi, Lovely was a minister in Sheila Dikshit's Congress government from 2003 to 2013. He joined the BJP last year.
Former Delhi minister and Congress turncoat, Rajkumar Chauhan, has been given a ticket from Mangolpuri. Another former Congress MLA, Tarwinder Singh Marwah, will contest from Jangpura against AAP's Manish Sisodia.
Former AAP minister Kailash Gahlot has been fielded from Bijwasan instead of his turf Najafgarh, while Raaj Kumar Anand has got a ticket from Patel Nagar.
Gahlot, who once said that he was Arvind Kejriwal's Hanuman, joined the BJP in November 2024 stating the AAP had moved away from its core values.
For Chhatarpur assembly segment, ticket has been given to MLA Kartar Singh Tanwar, who also jumped ship from the AAP.
Sitting BJP MLAs, including the Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Mahawar, and Jitender Mahajan, will again try their luck from Rohini, Vishwas Nagar, Ghonda, and Rohtas Nagar, respectively.
Former Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay will contest the polls from Malviya Nagar, while Manoj Shokeen has been fielded from Nangloi Jat.
The AAP has already announced its candidates for all the 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi, while the Congress has named candidates for 47 seats so far.
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