Sushma Swaraj’s daughter leads new faces as BJP names 5 for Delhi LS seats
Anshita Mehra
New Delhi, March 2
Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of the late External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, led the new party faces in Delhi as the BJP introduced its revamped list of candidates for the upcoming General Elections.
The saffron party unveiled its first list of 195 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Among these, five candidates were announced from the national capital. Bansuri Swaraj has been selected from the New Delhi constituency, Manoj Tiwari from North East Delhi, Kamaljeet Sehrawat from West Delhi, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri from South Delhi and Praveen Khandelwal from Chandni Chowk.
Marking a notable departure from convention in the national capital, four out of the five incumbent MPs, who have served two terms, have been replaced, paving the way for a fresh wave of leadership.
However, Manoj Tiwari, the current MP from the North East Delhi constituency, stands as the sole exception as he has successfully retained his position.
Bansuri Swaraj
Bansuri, a lawyer by profession, has been announced as the BJP candidate from the New Delhi constituency as she marks her political debut. She would replace Meenakshi Lekhi, a two-term Delhi MP and the current Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs.
In 2023, Swaraj was appointed as the co-convener of the legal cell of the BJP in Delhi. Bansuri was the Additional Advocate General for Haryana and has been running her private practice since 2007.
Kamaljeet Sehrawat
The West Delhi constituency witnessed a significant change as Kamaljeet Sehrawat, a former mayor of the South Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), stepped into the spotlight. He would be replacing Parvash Verma, the elected MP for both the 16th and 17th terms of the Lok Sabha.
Sehrawat had previously contested for the Assembly elections from the Matiala constituency and is a former president of the Delhi BJP Mahila Morcha.
Ramvir Singh Bidhuri
Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Delhi Assembly, has been selected as the BJP candidate from the South Delhi constituency.
The big opportunity came his way as Ramesh Bidhuri is being sidelined following his controversial remarks during a discussion on Chandrayaan-3. The LoP in the Delhi Assembly would have big shoes to fill as he replaces Ramesh Bidhuri, who has served two tenures as an elected MP.
Ramvir Singh Bidhuri has been elected four times as a Member of the Delhi Assembly since 1993.
Praveen Khandelwal
In another unexpected move, former Union Minister Harsh Vardhan, who has served as an MP for two terms, has been dropped from his seat to make way for Praveen Khandelwal, the founder and general secretary of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT). The Delhi-based businessman would represent the BJP from the Chandni Chowk constituency.
Manoj Tiwari
The singer-actor, who has successfully retained his position, Manoj Tiwari is the seating MP from the North East Delhi constituency. He is a member of the standing committee on External Affairs and also a member of consultative committee of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
