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Verma beat AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit to win the prestigious New Delhi assembly seat
BJP candidate from New Delhi assembly constituency Parvesh Verma celebrates outside a counting center. (PTI)
“It’s a massive moment that we are coming back to power after 26 years,” exclaimed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma who pipped AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit to win the prestigious New Delhi assembly seat in the February 5 elections.
Speaking to CNN-News18, Verma — who is said to be the frontrunner for the chief ministerial post — said “big challenges” lay ahead for the BJP which would “fulfill all our promises”.
“I have just done my job that was asked of me by the party. We heard people’s problems and they showed faith in BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I will work very hard for the development of New Delhi,” he said.
Training his guns on Kejriwal, Verma said: “There was strong anti-incumbency against Kejriwal. He has done no work in the past 11 years nor fulfilled any promises. He is now making excuses for their loss.”
The leader also sought to clear the air on the chief ministerial race, saying he had no expectations and had merely fulfilled his role. “The MLAs will elect the leader and party leadership will take the final decision. I don’t have any expectations.”
Parvesh’s father, Sahib Singh Verma, served as the chief minister of Delhi, while his uncle was the North Delhi Municipal Corporator mayor. Verma Jr entered Delhi Dangal with a victory from the Mehrauli seat in the 2013 assembly election. He won the West Delhi Lok Sabha seat in 2014 and retained the constituency by a landslide victory in 2019. He had also served as the member of Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament.
However, in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP decided to replace Verma with Kamaljeet Sehrawat, a leader from the Jat community, for the West Delhi Lok Sabha seat. Instead of sulking, he decided to keep his eyes on Delhi and the gamble seems to have paid off for him as well as the BJP.
In the run-up to Delhi elections, Verma, had made several promises, ranging from making Yamuna a riverfront similar to the one at Sabarmati, giving houses to slum dwellers, 50,000 government jobs, flyovers, and a pollution-free national capital.