Two BJP, one Congres LS candidates file nominations as deadline nears in Delhi

One Congress and two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidates on Friday filed their nominations for the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi, scheduled to be held on May 25. BJP leader Ramvir Singh Bidhuri filed his nomination from the South Delhi Lok Sabha seat, from where AAP candidate Sahiram Pahalwan — backed by the Congress — has already filed his nomination, thereby setting the stage for an MLA versus MLA battle. For the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat, BJP leader Praveen Khandelwal filed his nomination, and Congress candidate Udit Raj filed his papers from North West Delhi seat.
All the seven BJP candidates have now filed their nominations. The AAP and Congress — which have formed an alliance to contest the Delhi Lok Sabha elections — are fielding contestants in four and three seats respectively. Only one out of four AAP candidates and one of three Congress candidates have filed their papers so far.
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An AAP official said that the remaining three AAP candidates will file their nominations on Saturday along with Congress’s Chandni Chowk candidate JP Agrawal. The date on which Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar will file his nomination is yet to be announced.
Ramvir Singh Bidhuri
Before filing his nomination, Bidhuri led a rally from Lado Sarai to the district magistrate’s (DM’s) office in Saket and was accompanied by Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami as well as Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva. On his way to the DM’s office, Bidhuri also paid a visit to the Gopal Temple in Prithviraj Market.
“The enthusiasm of a sea of workers who have gathered here shows that the BJP is going to win all the seven Lok Sabha seats and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to return to power with the support of over 400 MPs,” said Dhami.
“The Narendra Modi government has given many gifts of development to the people of Delhi, such as peripheral roads, eco park, six-lane national highway, India Gate tunnel, National War Memorial, Kartavya Marg, new Parliament building, and the statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at India Gate. On the other hand, the Kejriwal government has tarnished Delhi’s image and earned disrepute as the most polluted capital in the world. He is himself in jail, and his ministers are also in jail,” Bidhuri said as he addressed the gathering at the rally.
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According to the affidavit submitted by him, Bidhuri, 71, is a graduate from Delhi University and his sources of income include salary as leader of Opposition in the Delhi assembly and rental income. Bidhuri does not own any vehicle. He owns moveable assets worth ₹11.71 crore (apart from wife’s ₹12.11 crore), and immovable assets worth ₹13.82 crore (apart from wife’s ₹14.98 crore).
Praveen Khandelwal
BJP leader Piyush Goyal and Chandni Chowk MP Harsh Vardhan joined Khandelwal’s nomination rally, which began from Chandni Chowk market and headed to Old Delhi railway station. From there, the leaders went by car to the DM’s office in Alipur to submit the papers.
Goyal said that the PM is working for the country’s development and urged people to contribute to it by electing Khandelwal. “The ‘Indi Alliance’ has nothing substantial to offer to the nation apart from false videos and fake narratives. The coalition is focused solely on vying for the Prime Minister’s post and lacks a vision for the country’s development. The people of Delhi are wise enough to see through the alliance’s deception, and their defeat is inevitable both in Delhi and in the entire north India,” Goyal said.
“I will fulfil all the promises I have made in my manifesto by 2027,” said Khandelwal. In the manifesto for Chandni Chowk, the BJP candidate has promised that development work will be undertaken on Ramleela Maidan as well as Turkman Gate.
According to his election affidavit, Khandelwal, 64, has an LLB degree from Delhi University. Khandelwal’s moveable assets are worth ₹1.62 crore and immovable assets worth ₹5 crore, the affidavit said.
Udit Raj
Raj took out a nomination rally from Sector 24 in Rohini to the the DM’s office in Kanjhawala, and was joined by the AAP’s Delhi convener Gopal Rai and MLA Rakhi Birla, and Congress leader Deepak Babaria and Delhi Congress interim president Devender Yadav.
“The people of North West Delhi know me well. I have worked for them from 2014 to 2019 and they are familiar with the development work that I have done in the area. They will vote for me and it will be a victory of development,” said Raj.
“This is the last fight to save democracy. There is no option but to win this fight at any cost,” said Raj.
Birla said, “The end of the autocratic BJP government is near, and this time the INDIA bloc is going to win all the seats of Delhi. The people have made up their minds to vote to avenge the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal.”
Udit Raj, 66, has moveable assets worth ₹5.54 crore (apart from his wife’s ₹71.21 lakh), and immovable assets worth ₹15.30 lakh (apart from his wife’s ₹1.20 crore). Raj has got honorary doctorate in humanities from the Bible College and Seminary in Rajasthan. The sources of income of Raj, who is a former IRS officer, include business, MP pension, and interest.
90 candidates file nominations
According to an official from the office of the chief electoral officer of Delhi, a total of 90 candidates have filed their nominations for the seven constituencies.
The last date of filing nominations in the Capital is May 6.