Delhi Elections 2025: Will it be Smriti Irani vs Saurabh Bhardwaj in Greater Kailash?

BJP leader Smriti Irani is reported to be among four women leaders in contention for the Greater Kailash seat for the Delhi elections. (File Photo: PTI)

Having emerged as the giant killer in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 by defeating Congress candidate Rahul Gandhi from the family bastion Amethi, the Bharatiya Janata Party is reportedly keen on fielding former Union minister and Lok Sabha MP Smriti Irani from the coveted Greater Kailash seat in the coming Delhi elections.

The Indian Express reports citing sources that Irani, who lost the Lok Sabha elections to Gandhi in Amethi in the elections held last year, is among three other women leaders who are in contention for the constituency against Aam Aadmi Party candidate and the sitting Greater Kailash MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj.

The BJP has so far released candidates for 59 of the 70 Delhi Assembly seats so far and is in the process of deliberations for choosing a strong candidate from the seat. While sources said that Irani's name has come up for deliberations, those close to the former MP maintain that she is not in the race. There is no clarity yet on the stand taken by the party's central leadership so far.

For those backing Irani's candidature from Delhi believe that she fits the bill perfectly for the BJP, which currently lacks a prominent face in the national capital to counter AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal.

Unlike Kiran Bedi, who was air-dropped by the BJP in the 2015 Delhi elections as the party's CM face, is an experienced political hand who is known for her feisty speeches in Parliament and respected for taking on the top leader of Congress in his bastion and beating him once.

On Monday, the state unit of the Delhi BJP proposed Irani's candidature at a meeting of the Delhi Core Committee with the senior leadership to finalise the remaining candidates for the polls "The response was that this request will be considered," The Indian Express quoted a source as saying.

A section of the party leaders, however, are wary of "parachuting" a leader from the outside – irrespective of their popularity. "(This) may not be a very wise choice at this juncture when many sitting and former councillors have been given tickets on the basis of their work," a senior leader said, suggesting that the move may demoralize local workers and prove counter-productive.

Other names reportedly in contention from the Greater Kailash constituency include Arti Mehra, a member of the BJP National Executive and a former mayor; Shikha Rai, a sitting councillor from the GK ward; and former Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi.

The BJP has fielded several prominent candidates against top leaders of the AAP and is hoping to put up a tough fight against Saurabh Bhardwaj, a three-time MLA from GK and one of the senior-most leaders of the AAP, holding several portfolios.

Other prominent names being fielded by the party include former West Delhi MP and key Jat leader Parvesh Verma against Kejriwal in the New Delhi seat, and ex-South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri against Chief Minister Atishi in Kalkaji.