Former MLA Kapil Mishra will contest from Karawal Nagar, while Harish Khurana, son of ex-CM Madan Lal Khurana, has been named the BJP candidate for Moti Nagar. The party also fields Neelam Pahalwan in Najafgarh, previously held by ex-AAP leader Kailash Gahlot, now contesting from Bijwasan.
BY PC bureau
The BJP released its second list of 29 candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections on Saturday, bringing the total announced so far to 58 out of 70 constituencies.
Prominent names in the second list include former MLA Kapil Mishra, who will contest from Karawal Nagar, and sitting Lakshmi Nagar MLA Abhay Verma, who has been renominated from the same seat. Harish Khurana, son of former Delhi Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana, will contest from Moti Nagar.
भाजपा की केन्द्रीय चुनाव समिति ने दिल्ली में होने वाले विधानसभा चुनाव 2025 के लिए निम्नलिखित नामों पर अपनी स्वीकृति प्रदान की है। pic.twitter.com/Hq97glKJnS
— BJP Delhi (@BJP4Delhi) January 11, 2025
The party has also fielded Neelam Pahalwan from Najafgarh, which was previously represented by former AAP minister Kailash Gahlot. Gahlot, who joined the BJP last year after a fallout with AAP leadership, has been named the party’s candidate for the Bijwasan constituency.
The BJP’s Central Election Committee (CEC), which includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met on Friday to finalize the second list of candidates. The meeting was attended by senior leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda.
Prime Minister Modi, upon arriving at the BJP headquarters, greeted the media and extended wishes for the New Year and upcoming festivals.
In its first list, the BJP had announced high-profile matchups, fielding Parvesh Verma against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi, Kailash Gahlot from Bijwasan, and Ramesh Bidhuri against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Atishi in Kalkaji.
Earlier in the day, Shah and Nadda held discussions with Delhi BJP leaders to finalize candidates and strategize for the upcoming elections.
The BJP is making an aggressive push to end AAP’s decade-long dominance in Delhi. Despite the BJP’s sweeping victories in all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi across three general elections since 2014, the AAP has maintained its stronghold in the state assembly, winning consecutive elections in 2015 and 2020.
