Who will fight Sheila Dikshit?

The BJP is desperately scouting for a popular face to take on Sheila Dikshit, the Congress chief minister of Delhi for two terms, from the New Delhi constituency, reports HT Correspondent.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is desperately scouting for a popular face to take on Sheila Dikshit, the Congress chief minister of Delhi for two terms, from the New Delhi constituency.

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While no candidate has been finalised yet, sources in the Delhi BJP said the choice has zeroed down to two candidates — sitting MLA Vijay Jolly, whose Sangam Vihar seat has been dissolved following delimitation of Assembly constituencies, and Neera Shastri, daughter-in-law of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.

“A final decision will be made tomorrow,” said a senior BJP leader.

In the last few weeks a number of names including former television actress Vani Tripathi and retired IPS officer Kiran Bedi were floated as likely candidates from this seat.

Earlier, the BJP was keen to rope in Maya Sharma, wife of decorated Delhi Police officer Mohan Chand Sharma who was killed in the Batla House encounter on September 19, to contest from the New Delhi seat. But Sharma declined the offer.

In 2003 elections, the BJP had fielded former cricketer Kirti Azad's wife Poonam Azad from the Gole Market seat against Dikshit but she lost, managing only 12,221 votes against Dikshit’s 25,156 votes.