Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Kejriwal, who is locked in a triangular fight against BJP’s Parvesh Verma and Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit from the high-profile New Delhi constituency, filed his nomination.
Before submitting his poll papers, Kejriwal, accompanied by his wife Sunita, offered prayers at the Hanuman and Valmiki temples.
The former Delhi chief minister led a ‘padyatra’ from the AAP headquarters to the New Delhi district magistrate’s office to file the nomination with hundreds of AAP workers carrying party flags and walking with him.
In a video, Kejriwal’s son and daughter were seen dancing during the ’padyatra’ on the tunes of the party’s campaign song.
After filing his nomination, Kejriwal exuded confidence that AAP would return to power in the national capital.
“The Aam Aadmi Party will form the government with full majority,” he said, adding that he wants to request the people of Delhi to vote based on work and not abuses.
Attacking the BJP, Kejriwal said the party has no vision, no chief ministerial face and no narrative.
Senior AAP leader and former Delhi health minister Satyender Jain also entered the fray. Jain is aiming for re-election from Shakur Basti for the fourth consecutive time.
On the BJP front, heavyweight Parvesh Verma, a former MP and son of former Delhi chief minister Sahib Singh Verma, filed his papers accompanied by prominent party leaders, including Baijayant Jay Panda and MP Sudhanshu Trivedi.
According to Verma’s office, before filing his nomination, he embarked on a spiritual journey, seeking blessings from several revered temples.
He first visited the Gauri Shankar temple in Chandni Chowk followed by the Hanuman Mandir in Connaught Place. He finally made his way to the Maharishi Balmiki Mandir.
Verma led a three-km padyatra, starting from Windsor Place and concluding at Jamnagar House. He was joined by his supporters, his office said, adding that the rally was a “stunning display of unity and energy, reflecting Verma’s strong connection with his constituency”.
During the march, Verma was seen holding a ’trishul’ (trident) while standing atop his car with a large crowd of supporters cheering him.
Ramesh Bidhuri, who is contesting from Kalkaji against Delhi Chief Minister Atishi and Congress’ Alka Lamba, also filed his nomination papers on Wednesday.
Bidhuri was accompanied by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri and Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva.
Bidhuri also held a rally after filing his nomination and said, “After the BJP government is formed in Delhi on February 8, drug addicts, goons and people with criminal mentality will either be found in jail or they will run away from Delhi, on the lines of Uttar Pradesh.” Other Delhi BJP stalwarts, including Vijender Gupta from Rohini, Dushyant Kumar Gautam from Karol Bagh and Kailash Gahlot from Bijwasan also filed their nominations.
Gupta was accompanied by Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar, whereas Gautam was accompanied by Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.
Former Delhi Transport Minister Gahlot was accompanied by South Delhi MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri.
The Congress has pinned its hopes on leaders such as Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav who will contest from Badli taking on AAP’s Ajesh Yadav and BJP’s Deepak Chaudhary.
The stakes are high for AAP as it seeks to secure a third consecutive full term following its landslide victory in 2020.
The BJP aims to break its 26-year drought of power in Delhi, while the Congress is looking to regain a foothold after being wiped out in the past two elections.
With freebies, law and order, education and governance dominating campaign agendas, the capital is bracing for an intense electoral showdown with results on February 8.
