The BJP’s Central Election Committee, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, met on Friday to finalize the second list of party candidates for the Delhi Assembly elections. BJP’s first list of 29 candidates for the 70-member Delhi Assembly was released on January 4. It has fielded former MP Parvesh Verma against former Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi seat.
The party has fielded another former MP, Ramesh Bidhuri, from Kalkaji, where the chief minister and AAP candidate Atishi are in the fray. Apart from Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda joined other CEC members in finalizing the names of candidates. After reaching the BJP headquarters, Modi moved towards the media contingent covering the meeting to wish him a happy new year and the upcoming festivals.
Earlier, Shah and Nadda had held a meeting with Delhi BJP leaders to discuss the list of possible candidates and the party’s strategy. BJP is making every effort to end the 10-year-old rule of Aam Aadmi Party in the national capital. Despite the party winning all seven Lok Sabha seats in the three national elections since 2014, AAP has retained its hold on power in the city in two consecutive assembly elections in 2015 and 2020. Voting in the national capital will take place on February 5 and counting of votes will take place on February 8.