Delhi Elections 2025: What’s delaying BJP’s candidate list—Parliament session or organisational revamp?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is usually the first among all political parties to release list of candidates for elections. Not in the national capital, however, where elections are scheduled in early next year.

The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has announced names of its candidates for all 70 seats. The Congress party has released 21 names, so far. The saffron party, which has been out of power for 25 years in the national capital, is yet to release its candidates, officially.

The elections to the 70-member Delhi assembly are expected to be held in February next year. The Election Commission of India has not announced the dates yet.

The term of the current assembly in Delhi expires on February 23, 2025.

But why the delay? The BJP is planning an overhaul of the state unit, according to reports. Many leaders with organisational roles will be be fielded in the upcoming polls.

The BJP Strategy

The party's Delhi unit has just completed internal discussions on candidate selection and ticket distribution after the AAP and the Congress released the names for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections 2025.

Three probable candidates for each seat will be sent to the BJP's parliamentary board to finalise the nominations, the reports said. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is said to be personally looking into the matter.

The BJP list is awaited due to the delay in the formation of the BJP’s state election committee and reconstitution of its core committee, according to a report in The Indian Express. These two key panels screen potential names before the final approval by the party's Central Election Committee, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Some BJP leaders say the delay in the party's candidate list was due to Lok Sabha election-related engagements, and not the revamping plans.

BJP out of power since 1998

The last time BJP had a chief minister in Delhi was in 1998, when the late Sushma Swaraj assumed the top post for 52 days.

Congress veteran late Sheila Dikshit was chief minister of Delhi for three terms from 1998 to 2013.

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal was chief minister of Delhi for the first term for 49 days in December 2013 followed by President's rule for a year. Kejriwal became the chief minister again in 2015 and for a third term in 2020. He stepped down in September this year paving for his party colleague Atishi to take over.

AAP, led by Kejriwal, is seeking to retain power in Delhi for a third straight time after its electoral successes in 2015 and 2020. The party won 67 seats in 2015 and 63 seats in 2020 in the 70-member Assembly.