The Delhi Assembly Elections 2025 are just a week away, and the race is expected to be a high-stakes, fiercely contested battle. Key political figures from various parties are vying for crucial seats. From Arvind Kejriwal to Ramesh Bidhuri, read all about the high profile candidates of the upcoming assembly polls.
Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal, the convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), submitted his nomination for the New Delhi constituency in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections on January 15. Kejriwal is set to face off against BJP’s Parvesh Verma and Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit for this prominent seat in the election scheduled for February 5.
Kejriwal had previously won the New Delhi seat in 2013, defeating Sheila Dikshit by more than 25,000 votes, and secured another victory in 2015, overcoming BJP’s Nupur Sharma by a margin of over 31,000 votes.
Arvind Kejriwal is a former civil servant-turned-politician and the former Chief Minister of Delhi. He gained recognition for his involvement in grassroots activism, particularly in the Right to Information (RTI) movement, and for advocating governance reforms.
Kejriwal is the founder and national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was established in 2012 with a focus on anti-corruption and government transparency. His efforts earned him the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Emergent Leadership in 2006, bringing him into the national spotlight.
Parvesh Verma
Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma is an Indian politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), currently serving as a Member of Parliament for the West Delhi Lok Sabha Constituency. He has filed his nomination for the New Delhi seat in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections.
Parvesh Verma is the son of the late Sahib Singh Verma, a prominent BJP leader and former Chief Minister of Delhi.
Verma was first elected to the 16th Lok Sabha in May 2014 and was re-elected in the 2019 national elections. Since September 1, 2014, he has been serving as a member of the Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament and the Standing Committee on Urban Development.
In the 2013 Delhi Assembly elections, he contested from the Mehrauli constituency, defeating his Congress opponent Yoganand Shastri, who was the sitting Speaker of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha at the time.
Additionally, Verma was part of the Delhi BJP’s election committee for the 2013 Assembly elections.
Atishi
Delhi’s third woman Chief Minister Atishi, who replaced Arvind Kejriwal after his resignation in September last year, has filed her nomination from Kalkaji for the upcoming Assembly polls.
In 2015, Atishi was appointed as an advisor to Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, focusing on the education sector, where her work played a key role in shaping Delhi’s education reforms and earned her widespread recognition.
After Sisodia’s arrest in connection with the liquor scam, Atishi took charge of critical portfolios, including education, and continued to build on the reforms he had initiated. Despite her significant contributions, she faced a tough political challenge in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, where she was defeated by BJP’s Gautam Gambhir in the East Delhi constituency by a margin of 477,000 votes.
However, Atishi made a strong comeback in the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, winning the Kalkaji constituency.
Manish Sisodia
Former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Manish Sisodia filed his nomination papers from Jangpura constituency in Delhi Assembly. 2025.
During his tenure, he oversaw key departments, including Education, Finance, Planning, Land & Building, Vigilance, Services, Women and Child Development, and Art, Culture and Languages, in addition to any departments not specifically assigned to other ministers.
In the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly elections, Sisodia was elected as an MLA from the Patparganj constituency in East Delhi, securing a decisive victory with a margin of 28,761 votes.
Before his political career, Sisodia was a journalist, working with Zee News and All India Radio. He was also deeply involved in the movement to pass the Right to Information (RTI) Act and played a crucial role in the Jan Lokpal Movement. Sisodia is one of the longest-standing associates of AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal.
Ramesh Bidhuri
The BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri, has filed his nomination papers for the upcoming Delhi assembly elections from the Kalkaji constituency. He currently represents the South Delhi seat in the 17th Lok Sabha and has previously served three terms as a member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly from the Tughlakabad constituency.
Born on July 18, 1961, Bidhuri attended Shaheed Bhagat Singh College at Delhi University, where he became active in student politics. He was elected as the central councillor of his college and later served as a councillor on the executive council of DU.
A qualified advocate at the Delhi High Court, Ramesh Bidhuri has held numerous positions within the BJP. Presently, he serves as the Chairman of the Standing Committee of Parliament on Petroleum and Natural Gas.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded Saurabh Bhardwaj from the Greater Kailash (GK) seat in the Delhi Assembly elections scheduled for February 2025. Mr Bharadwaj, a three-time MLA, is the minister for health, urban development, water and industries in Delhi.
Saurabh Bharadwaj
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has chosen Saurabh Bhardwaj to contest the Greater Kailash (GK) seat in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections scheduled for February 2025. Bhardwaj, a three-time Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA), currently serves as Delhi’s Minister for Health, Urban Development, Water, and Industries.
A native of Delhi, Saurabh Bhardwaj holds a degree in computer science engineering and a law graduate qualification from Osmania University. His political career began in 2013 when he was first elected to the Delhi Assembly from the Greater Kailash constituency. During the brief 49-day tenure of the Arvind Kejriwal-led government, he was assigned key responsibilities, including food and supply, transport, and environment.
In the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections, Bhardwaj triumphed over BJP candidate Rakesh Kumar Gullaiya. However, he was not included in the cabinet during Arvind Kejriwal’s first full five-year term as Chief Minister of Delhi.
