Delhi: BJP announces nine candidates in 4th list, JDU given one seat

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday released its fourth list of nine candidates for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections, while its ally, the Janata Dal (United), or JD(U), announced its candidate for one seat.

The BJP has now declared 68 candidates for the 70-member assembly, with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) naming candidates for 69 seats. The lone remaining seat, Deoli, will be contested by the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), which was yet to announce its candidate until 10pm on Thursday.

The BJP’s list of nine candidates includes Shikha Rai for Greater Kailash, Poonam Sharma for Wazirpur, Bhuvan Tanwar for Delhi Cantt, Ravindra Kumar (Indraj) for Bawana, Chandan Kumar Chaudhary for Sangam Vihar, Ravikant Ujjain for Trilokpuri, Sanjay Goyal for Shahdara, Anil Vashishth for Babarpur, and Praveen Nimesh for Gokalpuri.

The JD(U) named Shailendra Kumar as its candidate for the Burari constituency in northeast Delhi.

The BJP’s list prominently features sitting and former councillors.

Shikha Rai, the sitting councillor from Greater Kailash ward, will challenge AAP minister Saurabh Bhardwaj in the Greater Kailash constituency.

Similarly, Chandan Kumar Chaudhary is sitting BJP councillor from Sangam Vihar A ward who will be challenging the Aam Aadmi Party’s Dinesh Mohaniya – former Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman. Similarly, Chandan Kumar Chaudhary, the sitting councillor from Sangam Vihar A ward, will face off against AAP’s Dinesh Mohaniya, the former vice chairman of the Delhi Jal Board. Poonam Sharma, sitting councillor from Ashok Vihar ward, has been fielded from Wazirpur.

Last Sunday, the BJP announced its third list, featuring only Mohan Singh Bisht. Initially dropped as the Karawal Nagar candidate, Bisht was instead fielded from Mustafabad following signs of dissent.

Shailendra Kumar is the Delhi state chief of the JD(U) and contested the 2020 polls from Burari and got 23.14% vote share and lost. “This time the people of Burari want change and will vote for me because they are looking for an alternative. I will file my nomination from Burari on Friday,” said Kumar.

JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha said that the people of Delhi are tired of the AAP’s misrule. “The people want a replication of the development work that has taken place in Bihar under Nitish Kumar and a double-engine government like Bihar so that Delhi marches on the path of development. While Arvind Kejriwal has been busy in building a Sheesh Mahal for himself, the people of Delhi, especially those living in unauthorised colonies, have been neglected,” said Jha.

The BJP’s candidates include a mix of sitting and former councillors, ex-MPs, former MLAs, and defectors from the AAP and the Congress. Notable names from earlier lists include former MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely, and ex-AAP ministers Kailash Gahlot and Raaj Kumar Anand.

The BJP has strategically fielded key figures, including former South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri for Kalkaji and Harish Khurana, son of former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana, from Moti Nagar. The Burari seat remains the only constituency where an NDA ally has been fielded so far.

The deadline for filing nominations is January 17, with assembly elections scheduled for February 5 and results to be declared on February 8.

LJP Delhi in-charge Pranav Kumar said the LJP will contest the Deoli seat. “The candidate for the seat will be announced soon, and the candidate will file nomination (on Friday, the last day). We are prepared for the election and the LJP will win the seat,” said Kumar.

In 2020 LJP contested the Seemapuri seat as part of alliance with the BJP.