Will BJP have a CM face for Delhi polls? Party in two minds

“Several possibilities are in the process of being discussed, especially after the party’s victory in the Haryana Assembly polls where it was ensured local leaders were at the forefront and national leadership somewhat in the background,” a party source said.

“On the other hand, currently, there is a lack of consensus in the Delhi unit about the projection of a CM face — while there is a section that is in favour of projecting former Union Minister Smriti Irani — the other believes there is no need to project a CM face per se,” the source also said.

Additionally, according to sources, former West Delhi MP Verma and South Delhi MP Bidhuri, both of whom have prior experience as Delhi MLAs, are understood to have been given the go-ahead for the 2025 polls by its senior leadership.

Verma was elected from Mehrauli in 2013 before being fielded on the West Delhi seat for the first time in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Bidhuri was elected to the Delhi Assembly for three consecutive terms, between 2003 and 2013, from Tughlakabad.

“Both Verma and Bidhuri, who called on Union Home Minister Amit Shah late last month, are understood to have been asked to select Assembly constituencies which they believe they can successfully contest from and start work on their respective campaigns,” the party source added.

Organisational activities related to the polls, according to party sources, have begun across various Parliamentary constituencies — especially the BJP’s stronghold of East Delhi where “senior functionaries from the Delhi BJP are interested to contest”, sources said.

“There will be more clarity as organisational activities — not only for Delhi but Maharashtra and Jharkhand as well — begin next week after Dussehra; organisational changes are also expected in the coming days,” a source said.