Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Virendra Sachdeva, who is heading the party’s preparations for the February 5 assembly elections, hopes that the BJP will end its nearly 27 years exile from power in Delhi by winning the 2025 assembly elections. Sachdeva spoke to HT about promises made by the BJP and his party’s strategy to end more than a decade of Aam Aadmi Party rule. Edited Excerpts:
What are the key issues that the BJP is focused on for the Delhi elections?We are focused on key pressing issues such as corruption by the AAP leaders including Arvind Kejriwal, bad governance that they pushed Delhi into, overflowing sewage, terrible infrastructure in unauthorised colonies because the AAP government did no work, the bad conditions that the slum dwellers have been forced to live in, the Sheesh Mahal scam, pollution, and the ongoing water crisis. The people are fed up with the lies of the AAP government and want to get rid of them and give a chance to the BJP so that the double-engine government of the BJP in Delhi led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the centre can ensure the all-round progress of Delhi.
The AAP says that the BJP is contesting the election on negative issues while the AAP is talking about good education, health care, welfare schemes.During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, when citizens were desperate for resources like oxygen cylinders, Arvind Kejriwal spent over ₹50 crores for building a Sheesh Mahal, spent crores of tax payers money to buy luxury curtains, expensive toilet seats, set up jacuzzi…. all of this was done without transparency, multiple trees were felled, and multiple officers bungalows were demolished to expand the CM’s bungalow. Such extravagant expenditures during a crisis highlight a glaring lack of sensitivity. It is important for the people to know the reality of a person who swore that he will never accept bungalows and cars and will live a simple life.
{{/usCountry}}The AAP says that the BJP is contesting the election on negative issues while the AAP is talking about good education, health care, welfare schemes.During the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, when citizens were desperate for resources like oxygen cylinders, Arvind Kejriwal spent over ₹50 crores for building a Sheesh Mahal, spent crores of tax payers money to buy luxury curtains, expensive toilet seats, set up jacuzzi…. all of this was done without transparency, multiple trees were felled, and multiple officers bungalows were demolished to expand the CM’s bungalow. Such extravagant expenditures during a crisis highlight a glaring lack of sensitivity. It is important for the people to know the reality of a person who swore that he will never accept bungalows and cars and will live a simple life.
{{/usCountry}}BJP has promised to pay ₹2,500 monthly to women weeks after AAP promised to pay ₹2,100 monthly. Is your party copying the promises of the AAP?It is wrong to say that the BJP has copied the AAP because the AAP has nothing to copy from. In Punjab, Kejriwal made a similar promise of ₹1,000 for women but failed to deliver. Likewise, in Delhi, a similar scheme was announced in March 2025 by AAP but it was not implemented. On the other hand, the BJP has successfully introduced the women allowances schemes in several states, including Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Our approach has always been to ensure that commitments are fulfilled, and we plan to bring similar schemes to Delhi.
Why has the BJP not announced a CM candidate?Our approach has always been to rely on the strength of our organisation, the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, and the lotus symbol. In many states such as Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan we contested elections without naming a specific CM candidate and achieved success. The BJP is focused on collective leadership and delivering results for the people.
In the last 11 years, BJP won all seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi three times, but lost the two assembly elections which were held months later...BJP performed exceptionally in Lok Sabha elections in Delhi in 2014, 2019 and 2024. We however could not repeat the performance of the Lok Sabha in the assembly elections in 2015 and 2020 because Arvind Kejriwal and his leaders spun lies and deception and their entire election campaign was based on deceits. But the people who have been suffering due to pollution, bad roads, overflowing sewer lines, fake tests, and lack of medicines in hospitals have seen through their deception and are now ready to teach the AAP a lesson.