Delhi polls: BJP likely to place bets on fresh faces; candidates list likely by Dec last week

New Delhi: The BJP candidates' list for the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, expected around last week of this month, is likely to have a significant number of fresh faces, party leaders said on Monday.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced its candidates on all the 70 constituencies for the polls due to be held in February next year. The Congress too has announced 21 candidates so far.

"The final round of meetings on candidates selection by the national leadership is yet to take place. These meetings will be held after the Parliament session concludes on December 20," said a top functionary in Delhi BJP, adding the party may release the lists from the last week of this month.

The party received over 2,000 applications from the workers and leaders from all the 70 constituencies for the ticket to contest the elections, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.

"A significant enthusiasm for the BJP is being witnessed among various sections of the society in Delhi as the city gears up for the assembly elections," he said in a statement.

The BJP leaders said the process for candidates' selection was in an advanced stage and three probables on each constituency were already shortlisted.

"This time chances are that the party will place bets on fresh faces, including women and youngsters, who have strong ground connect and reach among the people in the constituencies although they have yet not contested the elections," said another senior Delhi BJP leader.

Those experienced party leaders, who have lost the elections twice or more may not be lucky this time and a lot of scrutiny of those who lost in close contests in the previous polls is likely to happen this time, he added.

"Winnability will be the prime factor with top leaders taking the final call with inputs from authentic feedback mechanisms like surveys and reports from the ground," he said.

The BJP out of power in Delhi since 1998 is making all efforts to upstage the ruling AAP that has dominated the assembly elections since 2015. The AAP romped home winning 67 and 62 seats, respectively in the last two assembly polls in 2015 and 2020.

Despite winning the Lok Sabha polls on all the seven constituencies in 2014, 2019 and 2024, the BJP has failed miserably to translate that success in the assembly polls. The party scraped through with just three seats in 2015 and eight seats in 2020.

Some potential leaders, who crossed over to the BJP in recent months are likely to be seriously considered for election tickets. These include former Delhi Congress chief Arvinder Singh Lovely, former Congress minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, and former AAP government ministers Kailash Gahlot and Raaj Kumar Anand among others, the party leaders said.

Sources claimed the election date is likely to be announced by mid-January and the voting could be held after February 10.