Forty-nine candidates, including BJP’s Manoj Tiwari and Harsh Malhotra, filed their papers on the third day of nominations for the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
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Mr. Tiwari is the only Delhi MP the BJP has retained this time and fielded from North East Delhi, a seat with a strong base of Purvanchali voters, who hail from eastern UP and Bihar.
Harsh Malhotra filed his nomination papers from East Delhi.
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Mr. Tiwari was accompanied by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh while filing his nomination, while Mr. Malhotra filed his papers in the presence of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Ahead of filing his papers, the North East Delhi MP held a roadshow in his constituency.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva targeted Mr. Tiwari’s challenger, Congress’s Kanhaiya Kumar, calling him a member of the “tukde tukde” gang, an expression used by the BJP to accuse the Opposition leader of inciting secessionism.
“In North East Delhi, the affection for Tiwari was visible on every face and people said the Congress candidate will not be able to open his account in areas that saw riots in 2020,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Malhotra held a motorcycle rally and promised that by 2029, every colony in East Delhi will be connected with solar power if the BJP wins from East Delhi.