During the past weekend, two conferences took place among the officials of RSS and Delhi BJP at Ranthambore in Rajasthan regarding the upcoming Delhi assembly election, giving optimism to several ex-MPs of the party who were not given tickets in the recent Lok Sabha election.
Insiders in the BJP state that three ex-MPs, who were unhappy after missing out on a major reorganization in Delhi where six out of seven candidates were replaced for the Lok Sabha elections, have been requested to demonstrate their abilities. Sources stated that Meenakshi Lekhi, a former Union Minister, has been instructed to start working actively after a recent meeting with BJP General Secretary (Organisation) BL Santosh. Lekhi, the Minister Of State for External Affairs in Modi 2.0, was the representative for the New Delhi Lok Sabha Constituency, where Bansuri Swaraj, the daughter of the late senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, ran and won in this Lok Sabha election.
Reports indicated that upscale Greater Kailash (GK) is one of the limited number of constituencies under consideration for Lekhi. According to BJP sources, Ramesh Bidhuri, a different ex-MP, has reportedly been authorized to begin the process of mobilizing his supporters locally.
Bidhuri, the Member of Parliament from South Delhi in Modi 2.0, made racist remarks towards BSP MP Kunwar Danish Ali during a parliamentary debate in September, leading to him losing the ticket for Lok Sabha due to both the remarks and anti-incumbency. Nonetheless, according to reports, Bidhuri is supposedly being offered another opportunity by the BJP and the RSS. Party sources said he served as an MLA in Tughlaqabad from 2003 to 2014, which is why he is currently being considered for nomination again from Tughlakabad.
According to BJP sources, Parvesh Verma, the former MP from West Delhi and the son of the late former Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma, is reportedly being indicated to start getting ready for his return to electoral politics. It is thought that his criticisms of the protesters at Shaheen Bagh concerning CAA and his subsequent call for a public boycott of Muslims in 2022 led to him losing his Lok Sabha ticket. However, the BJP is also conscious of the fact that Verma was one of the Delhi MPs who won by the largest margin in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. Insiders mentioned that the BJP is considering three areas for him to contest from, one of them being Najafgarh which is predominantly inhabited by Jats, the same caste as Parvesh Sahib Singh.
Sources said that Dr Harsh Vardhan, aged 69, is unlikely to be chosen by the BJP due to their focus on youth this time, despite his clean image. Sources indicated that the BJP is placing a significant emphasis on new faces, with over 50 percent being given the same attention as in the Lok Sabha. Choosing to accompany Harsh Vardhan would not be beneficial.
In addition, Hans Raj Hans is not expected to be chosen for the field as he is 62 years old and does not possess the qualities of a typical politician, according to a BJP official. In the meantime, former Delhi MP Gautam Gambhir has returned to his former career in cricket. Since then, he has been in charge of leading Team India as the head coach. Gautam Gambhir is presently in Gwalior for the upcoming first T20I match between India and Bangladesh set for October 6. Gambhir is not being considered, and neither is Manoj Tiwari, as he is the only Delhi MP in Modi 2.0 who was reelected in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.