Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari. (Express photo by Amit Mehra) Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari. (Express photo by Amit Mehra) The BJP Sunday declared candidates for four of the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in the capital, which featured names of its sitting MPs — Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari from North East; Parvesh Verma from West; Ramesh Bidhuri from South; and Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan from Chandni Chowk. According to a senior leader, these four seats were the “easiest to decide” as top leaders were not keen on making changes, irrespective of whether the Congress and AAP formed an alliance in the capital or not. On the decision to field sitting MPs, another senior leader said: “Tiwari is our Purvanchali face. As party president, he has given results by helping the BJP win in MCD elections. Since he joined the party, our presence in the media has also increased.” “Bidhuri and Verma are Gujjar and Jat leaders; the BJP would have given a ticket each to leaders from these two communities… Also, their performance was satisfactory so we gave them a second chance instead of fielding fresh faces,” he added. “In Dr Harsh Vardhan’s case, there were discussions last month to give him a ticket from East Delhi, where he has been an MLA several times. But the party felt he is the best candidate to win Chandni Chowk,” the leader said. On the remaining three seats, sources said the party is likely to change its candidates. According to party sources, reasons vary from waiting for the opposition’s final decision on an alliance to the RSS and BJP leadership not being satisfied with performance. Sources said that for New Delhi, cricketer Gautam Gambhir is being considered along with incumbent MP Meenakshi Lekhi. For East Delhi, names of BJP leader Sudhanshu Mittal, an AAP rebel leader, and incumbent MP Maheish Girri are being considered. From the North West seat, incumbent MP Udit Raj and former mayor Anita Arya are being considered. Click here for more election news Meanwhile, the MPs who have been fielded again said they are sure of winning, irrespective of an AAP-Congress alliance. Verma said, “I was already in campaign mode, now I will take it to the next level. The alliance doesn’t make a difference to us as CM Arvind Kejriwal has exposed himself in the drama he has created over the past month… he has shown himself as someone indecisive, whom people should not trust.” Bidhuri said, “AAP created propaganda by coming out with reports on me. I now invite (AAP leader) Gopal Rai and Kejriwal to the Constitution Club, where I will present my report card…” “We will go to the public and expose how Kejriwal has stopped several policies, including Ayushman Bharat, which would have benefited people of Delhi,” said Tiwari.<doc-sep>NEW DELHI: Even as uncertainty loomed whether Congress will ally with AAP or contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election in Delhi on its own, BJP on Sunday announced the names of its candidates on four of the seven seats, retaining the sitting MPs. The BJP names announced include Union minister Harsh Vardhan from Chandni Chowk, Delhi unit chief Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi, former chief minister Sahib Singh Verma's son Pravesh from West Delhi and Gujjar leader Ramesh Bidhuri from South Delhi parliamentary constituency. Sources added that there was a prolonged discussion on the names of probables on the remaining three seats of New Delhi, East and North West Delhi. The sitting MPs on these three seats have got a relatively poor feedback in the internal surveys of the party. The announcement of names also ended the speculation that the saffron might change a majority of its sitting MPs if the two rival parties, Congress and AAP, decided to join hands and give a joint fight to BJP. While AAP has already announced its candidates for all seven seats, Congress did not release the list of its candidates till Sunday evening. The last date of filing nomination in Delhi is April 23 while the nominations can be withdrawn till April 26. BJP had earlier decided to announce its candidates in advance to give them enough time to campaign but its process got delayed after Congress and AAP went into parleys over seat-sharing. ‘Congress and AAP in last-ditch tie-up effort’ Sources said the BJP leadership was keeping an eye on developments and deferred the announcement of its candidates to wait for the outcome of the talks between AAP and Congress. “This gave us an opportunity to get more feedback on the performance and accessibility report of our sitting MPs as well as other names who were in the fray,” said a BJP member. Though Congress has also finalised the names of the seven candidates, sources say last-ditch efforts are being made by top leaders of the two parties to stitch an alliance in Delhi. While Congress had proposed a 4:3 seat-sharing formula with AAP contesting on four seats, the Kejriwal-led party wanted to include 10 seats of Haryana and one in Chandigarh in the arrangement too. Following the Congress’ clear no on any truck with the party outside Delhi, sources said the AAP may finally agree to the initial proposal and filed its candidates on three seats. Interestingly, AAP has already announced its seven candidates who would be filing their nominations on Monday. A senior Congress functionary said the party was delaying the list as it did not want its candidates to face embarrassment if the alliance finally happens. “It will not be difficult for AAP candidates to withdraw their nominations from seats that come in our kitty if the alliance finally works out. It’ll be difficult for our leaders who are senior politicians,” said a Congress member. Facebook Twitter Linkedin EMail<doc-sep>Bidhuri, Lekhi, Gambhir and Hans file papers A triangular contest for the Capital’s seven Lok Sabha seats was sealed with the BJP’s four remaining candidates completing their nominations on Tuesday. Sitting MPs Ramesh Bidhuri and Meenakshi Lekhi filed their nominations for the South and New Delhi constituencies in addition to the two new entrants — former cricketer Gautam Gambhir and Punjabi singer Hans Raj Hans — who filed their papers for East and North West Delhi constituencies respectively. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, who accompanied Mr. Bidhuri, said he hoped that the party wins all the seven seats in Delhi as a marker of the “faith reposed in Prime Minister Narendra Modi.” Delhi BJP president and North East Delhi candidate Manoj Tiwari and Union Minister Vijay Goel participated in Mr. Gambhir’s roadshow in East Delhi. Mr. Goel credited Mr. Gambhir with “hitting sixers” for the victory of the Indian team and said he would “now defeat the opponents by hitting a sixer in these elections.” Ms. Lekhi claimed the party was “ready to win all the seven seats” while Mr. Hans said vowed to deliver on “trust reposed in him by the BJP.” In South Delhi, Mr. Bidhuri led a massive roadshow which, the party claimed, drew an estimated 10,000 supporters. In the East, Mr. Gambhir’s roadshow drew a significant crowd of supporters and saw senior party leaders, including Mr. Tiwari, Maheish Girri — the sitting East Delhi MP replaced by the former cricketer. ‘India with Modi’ “Today the youth of not only Delhi but the entire country is with our Prime Minister. Mr. Gambhir is also very popular among the youth and he will certainly win his seat. We offer him good wishes for this new innings,” Mr. Tiwari said. In North West Delhi, Mr. Hans visited the Balmiki mandir before proceeding to file his nomination accompanied by Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta. “The BJP has always received the blessings of the Dalit community. After Mr. Han’s joining, the community will vote for BJP in large numbers on all the seats and make that Mr. Modi becomes the Prime Minister yet again,” said Mr. Gupta. Ms. Lekhi began the day with a havan at the party’s Delhi office before proceeding to file her nomination papers at the conclusion of a roadshow. “We are ready to win all the seven seats,” she said.<doc-sep>From tweets and videos on cricket, the Twitter page of Gautam Gambhir, former left-hand opening batsman for India, is now loaded with roadshows and hashtags to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. In addition to the show of support, Gautam Gambhir is now officially the new Chowkidar on Twitter. Mr Gambhir, who is BJP's candidate for East Delhi, had announced his entry into politics a little over a month ago. "I have been influenced by the PM, his vision for the country. This is a fabulous platform for me to do something for the country," he had said on March 22 when he joined the party. I have joined @BJP4India to serve the country with right intent and honesty. I hope through this I can make some meaningful difference to the lives of my people. — Chowkidar Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) March 22, 2019 The 37-year-old replaced Maheish Girri as the BJP's East Delhi candidate, lining up a clash with Arvinder Singh Lovely of the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) star candidate Atishi. Since his entry into politics, Mr Gambhir has used his Twitter account to display videos and photos of his roadshow across Delhi under several hashtags like #PhirEkBaarModiSarkar and #GambhirForEastDelhi. He is also seen meeting people on the streets and posing for selfies with them. "I was a cricketer, I am not a cricketer [anymore]. I did what I had to do on the cricket field, it's a different field and it's a different challenge... I have always had the right intention to do something good for the country and change a lot of things in the society and hopefully I touch a lot of lives. So I hope I can live up to the expectations," he had said on his first election rally in East Delhi. With an annual income of over Rs. 12 crore, cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir is among the richest of all the candidates in fray for the Lok Sabha election in Delhi. Promoted Mr Gambhir who retired in December 2018 after a 15-year stint, joined a league of more cricketers-turned-politicians like Kirti Azad, Mohammad Azharuddin, Navjot Sidhu and Mohammad Kaif. East Delhi, along with six other seats in the capital, will vote on May 12. Results are expected on May 23.<doc-sep>
Former Chief Minister and Congress leader Sheila Dikshit has been fielded from North-East Delhi. Several prominent candidates including former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri, Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh and cricketer-tuned-politician Gautam Gambhir filed their nominations for the May 12 Lok Sabha polls in Delhi on Tuesday, the last day to enter the fray. Many of the candidates took out road shows in the scorching heat in their constituencies before filing their nominations. All seven candidates of the Congress -- former Delhi minister Arvinder Singh Lovely, former Delhi Congress chief Jai Prakash Agarwal, former Union minister Ajay Maken, Delhi Congress working president Rajesh Lilothia, former Congress MP Mahabal Mishra along Sheila Dikshit and Vijender Singh filed their papers. BJP candidates Punjabi singer Hans Raj Hans, sitting MP from South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency Ramesh Bidhuri and BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi filed their nominations besides Gautam Gambhir. Gautam Gambhir, who has been pitted against Mr Lovely and AAP's Atishi Marlena from East Delhi, said that he is focusing on winning and not on his rival candidates. Talking to reporters, Ms Dikshit, who has been fielded from North-East Delhi, said, "I have sentiments attached to this seat as I had fought my first election in Delhi from this seat." When asked whom she considers a bigger challenge between Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and AAP candidate Dilip Pandey, the Congress veteran said she sees both of them as a challenge and her endeavour will be to win from this seat. "No seat is small or big and it does not belong to any individual. It belongs to the people of the constituency," she said. Ms Dikshit had contested from East Delhi constituency in 1998, but faced defeat. The seat included parts of North-East Delhi at that time. Talking to reporters, Mr Gambhir, who has been pitted against Mr Lovely and AAP's Atishi Marlena from East Delhi, said that he is focusing on winning and not on his rival candidates. "My aim is to make East Delhi one of the best parts of the city after winning the polls," he told reporters. "I am beginning an innings of honesty under the leadership of Narendra Modi. I have no competition with other candidates in the fray and I am here to share my vision with people of East Delhi. I am going to the people with a positive agenda," he said. Vijender Singh, who is contesting from South Delhi, said he will focus on issues related youth and sports. When Mr Gambhir reached the East Delhi District Office for filing his nomination papers, there was a verbal duel between his supporters and that of Lovely. While the BJP supporters were raising slogans hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress workers raised slogans "Chowkidar Chor Hai". Vijender Singh, who is contesting from South Delhi, said he will focus on issues related youth and sports. "I am genuinely concerned about employment, which I think is a prominent issue for the youth. And being a sportsperson, I am also keen on working towards developing sports infrastructure. It's about time we had good infrastructure so that budding athletes can actually flourish," he said. Asked why he opted for the Congress, which did not win a single seat in Delhi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Vijender Singh said, "I relate to the ideology and the leadership." "As is propagated by our leadership, I want to be a friend of the electorate. I don't wish to be the "neta" that visits once in five years. I am not going to do rallies or road shows. I am going to connect with the voters spontaneously," he said. Delhi is witnessing a triangular fight involving the Congress, the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in this Lok Sabha election. All seven seats in the city will go to polls in the sixth phase on May 12.