Indus Valley Times

NEW DELHI, JAN 4 : Former Lok Sabha MP Parvesh Verma will take on AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi, while BJP veteran Ramesh Bidhuri will contest against Delhi Chief Minister Atishi in Kalkaji as the saffron party released its first list of 29 candidates for the Delhi elections. 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 got tickets.

The entry of Parvesh Verma, who has been accused by the AAP of distributing money to voters, sets up a mouth-watering 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.

Kejriwal has been the MLA from the New Delhi seat since 2013. Verma, the son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma, has been in the AAP’s crosshairs after the ruling party accused him of distributing Rs 1,100 to women in New Delhi. The AAP has also lodged a complaint with the ED against Verma, who has dismissed the claims.

The BJP has also dropped its Gandhi Nagar MLA Anil Bajpai and given a ticket to former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely. Lovely, who was a minister in Sheila Dikshit’s Congress government from 2003 to 2013, 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 last year, saying the AAP had moved away from its core values.

MLA Kartar Singh Tanwar, who also jumped ship from the AAP to the BJP, has been fielded from his Chhatarpur constituency.

Sitting BJP MLAs, including the Leader of the Opposition Vijender Gupta, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Mahawar, and Jitender Mahajan, will re-contest 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.

-PTI