The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to hold a legislative party meeting on February 19th where the next Chief Minister of Delhi will be decided. All 48 newly elected BJP MLAs will meet at the Delhi BJP office to choose their next leader, who will then take oath as the new chief minister of the National Capital on February 20.
One of the frontrunners for the next CM post is none other than Parvesh Verma, BJP’s prominent Jat leader in the National Capital who defeated AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi seat in the Delhi Assembly Election 2025. Let’s look at the factors that might work in his favour:
Parvesh Verma’s age-old connection to BJP
Verma has been with the BJP for almost 30 years. He is the son of Sahib Singh Verma who was the former Delhi Chief Minister and former senior vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party. His uncle Azad Singh, was the mayor of North Delhi Municipal Corporation and has contested elections from Mundka on a BJP ticket. Verma has been a two-time West Delhi MP and has also been a Mehrauli MLA. He debuted in politics in 2013 Legislative Assembly election as the BJP candidate from Mehrauli constituency.
Parvesh Verma’s strong electoral promises
Verma began campaigning for the Delhi Assembly Elections 2025 in mid-January this year. Prior to that, he had started visiting various slum areas in the National Capital to understand the residents’ needs. Verma had repeatedly said that many people in these areas still don’t have access to free water or electricity, The Indian Express reported. “I’ll say this clearly: if you’re getting clean water and zero electricity bills, vote for Kejriwal, but if you’re not, vote for the BJP,” Verma had said.
During his campaigning for the Delhi Assembly Elections 2025, Verma’s supporters were seen chanting, “Delhi ka CM kaisa ho, Parvesh Verma jaisa ho” which basically means ‘our CM should be like Parvesh Verma’. His victory follows the strong promises he made during his campaign, including revamping the Yamuna riverfront, 50,000 government jobs, pollution-free Delhi and giving houses to people living in slums.
During his campaign, AAP had accused Verma of buying out women votes by giving them Rs 1,100. He had responded to the allegations saying that he was helping the women via his father’s NGO.
Verma’s campaign was also largely centered around ‘sheesh mahal’- a name given by Opposition to Kejriwal’s official residence. According to the IE report, Verma had kept the model of the house outside his own residence with the caption that ‘do you think Kejriwal’s house is really like this?’
If BJP goes the conventional route…
Defeating Kejriwal from new Delhi seat was a big win for Parvesh Verma, which is what makes him the strongest contender for the post of next Chief Minister of Delhi. However, going by the history, BJP might go for an unconventional pick and choose two deputy chief ministers, a strategy that has been adopted in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh previously. Other names that are popping up in list of contenders are Vijender Gupta, Satish Upadhyay, Virendra Sachdeva, and Rekha Gupta.
After Verma’s win in New Delhi seat, his wife Swati Singh spoke to the media and gave her opinion on the reason behind his victory. She had stated that the people of Delhi were tired of all the false promises and they really wanted change, which is why Verma won the seat. She also said that it was clear from the very first day that BJP would form government in the National Capital this time.
She also listed out the qualities of Verma which she thought set him apart from other leaders. “His hard-working nature and corruption-free work (sic).”