Delhi Elections: BJP Picks Shikha Rai to Take on Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj in Greater Kailash

Synopsis

The BJP has introduced advocate Shikha Rai as their candidate to contest against Transport Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj in the upcoming Assembly elections in Greater Kailash. This strategic move follows previous election defeats and aims to strengthen party representation.

Key Takeaways

BJP fields Shikha Rai against Saurabh Bhardwaj in GK.
Rai previously lost to Bhardwaj by 16,809 votes.
Congress candidate for GK is Garvit Singhvi.
BJP has announced 68 of 70 candidates ahead of elections.
The result will be declared on February 8.

New Delhi, Jan 16 (NationPress) The Delhi BJP has nominated advocate Shikha Rai, who previously served as the first female chairperson of the Standing Committee of the former South Delhi Municipal Corporation, to contest against AAP's Transport Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj in the Greater Kailash (GK) constituency during the Assembly elections scheduled for February 5.

In the 2020 elections, the BJP candidate lost to Bhardwaj by a margin of 16,809 votes. Bhardwaj is a three-time representative from this south Delhi constituency. The Congress party has put forward Garvit Singhvi as their candidate for the same seat.

Additionally, the BJP’s fourth list of nominees released on Thursday includes another candidate challenging a Delhi government minister. Anil Vashisth will contest against Environment Minister Gopal Rai in the Babarpur constituency located in northeast Delhi, while the Congress has nominated Mohd Ishrq Khan for this seat.

With the announcement of nine candidates in this fourth list, the BJP has officially put forth 68 candidates out of a total of 70. The deadline for filing nominations is Friday, with January 20 marking the final day for candidates to withdraw their names.

The NDA still needs to declare its candidates for the Burari and Deoli constituencies.

This fourth list was signed and made public by Arun Singh, the BJP’s National General Secretary and in charge of the headquarters.

The latest list includes Ravinder Kumar for the reserved Bawana seat, Poonam Sharma from Wazirpur, Bhuvan Tanwar for Delhi Cantonment, Chandan Kumar Choudhary from Sangam Vihar, and Ravikant Ujjain from Trilokpuri (SC).

The BJP has also nominated Sanjay Goyal for Shahdara and Praveen Nimesh from Gokalpur (SC).

Earlier, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva dismissed concerns regarding the party's candidate selection process, stating, “There is no issue or difficulty. It’s part of a strategy. The names will be disclosed in due time for filing nominations, and all candidates will be successful.”

Previous lists included candidates such as Parvesh Verma from New Delhi, Ramesh Bidhuri from Kalkaji, Satish Upadhyay from Malviya Nagar, and Arvinder Singh Lovely from Gandhi Nagar.

Currently, the BJP holds eight seats while the ruling AAP retains 62 MLAs in the outgoing 70-member Assembly. The results of the elections on February 5 will be announced on February 8.