NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released its first list of 29 candidates for the upcoming 70-member Delhi Assembly elections, scheduled for February 2025. Among the prominent names, former MP Parvesh Verma will contest against Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and former Delhi Chief Ministersupremo Arvind Kejriwal from the prestigious New Delhi seat. 

Parvesh Verma, the son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma, has already started his preparations and expressed gratitude to the party leadership. The Congress party has pitted Sandeep Dixit son of former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit from the constituency.

In Kalkaji, former MP Ramesh Bidhuri will challenge Delhi Chief Minister Atishi. Bidhuri, who has previously served as an MP from South Delhi, has been criticized by Atishi for his past performance. The Congress has fielded Alka Lamba for this high-stakes contest that will be keenly watched.

The BJP's list also includes several leaders who have switched from Congress and AAP in recent months. For instance, the party has dropped Gandhi Nagar MLA Anil Bajpayee and given a ticket to former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely and former AAP leader Kailash Gahlot from Bijwasan. Meanhwile, Former Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay will contest from Malviya Nagar.

After the list was released, Bidhuri spoke to ANI and expressing his confidence he said, "I thank the BJP leadership for showing trust in me to reclaim the Kalkaji assembly seat. Delhi is suffering because of Arvind Kejriwal. The people of Kalkaji have also faced 'aapda' under CM Atishi."

On the other hand, the ruling  AAP has announced picks for all the 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi, while the Congress has named candidates for 21 seats for a triangular contest for the national capital assembly.