The biggest surprises in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) list of 195 candidates released on March 2 came from the national capital. The saffron party has fielded four new faces among five candidates for the seven seats in Delhi.
The first list did not feature names of sitting members of parliament such as Union Minister Meenakshi Lekhi (New Delhi), former Union Minister Harsh Vardhan (Chandni Chowk), Ramesh Bidhuri (South Delhi, Pravesh Vema (West Delhi).
The BJP has fielded Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of former External Affairs Minister late Sushma Swaraj from New Delhi, trade leader Praveen Khandelwal from Chandni Chowk, Delhi MLA Ramvir Singh Bidhuri from South Delhi and south Delhi Mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat from West Delhi. The only repeat among MPs is Manoj Tiwari who will contest from his old seat North East Delhi.
Follow all live updates on BJP’s first list of candidates here
Delhi is, perhaps, the only state where the BJP has chose to change the majority of candidates, despite the party winning all seven seats in last two elections- 2014 and 2019.
Analysts say that the decision comes because the BJP is , perhaps, wary of Congress- Aam Aadmi Party alliance in Delhi. The two parties are contesting the seven seats of Delhi in alliance, as part of Opposition’s INDIA bloc. The AAP will contest four of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi while the remaining three will be contested by the Congress party, as part of the agreement between the two INDIA bloc partners.
Clearly, the BJP doesn’t want to take any chances in Delhi. Also, to quote a BJP leader, the party has to keep the 370 seat target in mind. Â The BJP is yet to announce candidates for East Delhi and North West Delhi Lok Sabha seats.
Earlier, East Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir had requested party national president JP Nadda to relieve him of political duties so that he can focus on his cricket commitments.
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Published: 02 Mar 2024, 08:10 PM IST