The line-up for Delhi’s seven Lok Sabha constituencies from the three major political parties was finalised this week. We give a round-up of candidates from each of the constituencies whose fate will be decided when the capital goes to vote on May 12.

The triangular contest will witness a change if the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party are able to pull through a last-minute alliance. Meanwhile, Delhi voters can enjoy being wooed by a doctor, a chartered accountant, a couple of singers, a boxer, a former chief minister and a former CM’s son.  

West Delhi

Parvesh Singh Verma (BJP)

The people of West Delhi constituency complain they have never seen their present Member of Parliament. 

Age: 41
Education: MBA (International Business) from Fore School of Management, Delhi
Strength: Modi’s name. And the fact that Parvesh Singh Verma is the son of former chief minister Sahib Singh Verma. He won In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he beat AAP’s Jarnail Singh by a margin of 2,68,586 votes.
Weakness: The middle class of the area do not believe the MP has made much difference to infrastructure, health and education. They instead praise the AAP.
Criminal case: He has one case against him under Indian Penal Code Section 353: charges related to assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty.
His words: The results of the Modi wave are for everyone to see. I was hopeful that we would lead by a big margin and it is happening.

Mahabal Mishra (Congress)

The three-time MLA became an MP in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections from the West Delhi constituency. He lost in the 2014 election to BJP’s Parvesh Verma, against whom he is again contesting.
Age: 65
Education: 12th pass; Diploma in Transistor Theory
Strength: He has experience in politics, having been in the field since 1997. Originally from Bihar, he is a registered voter from Dwarka, so it is his home turf.
Weakness: His loss in the 2014 elections by a massive number of votes of over 4 lakhs.
Criminal case: He has a case against him with serious charges including IPC Section 366 which relates to kidnapping, abducting or inducing a woman to compel her marriage, etc.
His words: Parvesh Singh Sahib is a photocopy. He carries around the certificate of his father while I am an original.

Balbir Singh Jakhar (AAP)

A new entrant to the world of politics, his work with the AAP during the India Against Corruption movement is now reaping him some personal benefit.
Education: LLB
Age:47
Strength: He is the president of the Dwarka Court Bar Association. Any person who views AAP in a positive light would like a candidate who has been associated with the party since its inception.
Weakness: No experience of governance, unlike his two opponents.
Criminal case: He has no criminal record.
His words: Keeping Delhi’s all-round welfare in mind, four years of AAP government’s work matters. Why not talk about education, health, jobs etc? Why just talk about religion and hate?

South Delhi

Ramesh Bidhuri (BJP)

The South Delhi constituency has many JJ clusters and unauthorised colonies which are not happy with the BJP’s work. The sitting MP thus has a major task in front of him to consolidate support again. He defeated the AAP candidate in 2014 by a margin of just over a lakh votes.
Age: 57
Education: BCom, LLB
Strengths: Being a three-time MLA and sitting MP means he has experience backing him.
Weakness: Many areas in his constituency say there has been no development.
Criminal case: He has four cases against him. One of the cases where cognisance was taken has IPC Section 147 related to punishment for rioting.

Vijender Singh (Congress)

The young contender is a new entrant into politics and his past experience is boxing his opponents. The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics bronze medallist will be fighting against BJP’s sitting MP Ramesh Bidhuri and AAP spokesperson Raghav Chaddha.

Age: 33
Education: Bachelor’s degree
Strength: He can bring in a large number of Jat and Gujjar votes. He can be the main attraction for young voters.
Weakness: No past experience
His words: I can’t see any Modi wave anywhere. People have identified the real face. Youth just want employment, they say, “Jumlon se peth nahi bharega.”

Raghav Chaddha (AAP)

While this is his debut in electoral politics, his face is highly recognisable for being the AAP’s national spokesperson. He joined the India Against Corruption movement and has been with the party since its inception and is a member of the National Executive
Age: 30
Education: Chartered Accountant (BCom)
Strength: His experience in preparing policy papers for his party. The national treasurer for the AAP. Recognisable. Weakness: At just 30, his age may be used against him.
His words: The BJP wants to punish the people of Delhi because they voted for us in 2015 and that is why they are creating hurdles in our development activities

Chandni Chowk

Harsh Vardhan (BJP)

The winner from 2014 Lok Sabha elections from the same constituency, he defeated AAP’s Ashutosh by over a lakh votes. He will be pitted against Congress’ old-timer Jai Parkash Agarwal and AAP’s national secretary Pankaj Gupta.

Age: 64
Education: MBBS, MS (ENT)
Strength: Five-term MLA
Weakness: Chandni Chowk’s trading community faced the brunt of demonetisation. This could work against the incumbent MP.
Criminal cases: Two cases where cognisance was taken. One was charges related to voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty (IPC Section 332)
His words: It’s not a wave, it’s a tsunami. Modi Sarkar will come again. Just like in 2014, the people of Chandni Chowk are ready to make the lotus bloom in 2019.

Jai Prakash Agarwal (Congress)

His stint with the Congress party began in 1973 and since then he has been the Mayor of Delhi and a four-term MP from the North-East constituency.
Age: 74
Education: BA from Hansraj College
Strength: His long-drawn experience. His past record with Chandni Chowk, winning the 1996 Lok Sabha elections from here. He is also an enrolled voter from here.
Weakness: He has also lost this seat to the BJP’s Vijay Goel in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections.
His words: I am from Chandni Chowk. I have campaigned for six elections from here. I was sent away from my home and now I have come back.

Pankaj Gupta (AAP)

National Secretary of the Aam Aadmi Party, he has been the face behind the funds that helped the party take off.

He has had a long association with Arvind Kejriwal and was the one who wanted to dive into politics. His chance has now emerged to win a seat from a constituency where he will take on two persons who have experience of being MPs.  He was announced as the party’s ‘in-charge’ from the seat last year, giving him enough time to rally around voters.

Age: 52
Education:  BE (Electronics)
Strength: Promises to act against the sealing driving.
Weakness: Taking on two well-established veterans of other parties.
His words: Full statehood was one of the major points in Mr (Harsh) Vardhan’s election manifesto five years back. He had even said that women in Delhi would not be completely safe until the police is under the Delhi government.

North East constituency

Manoj Tiwari (BJP)

Known mostly as a Bhojpuri singer and then an actor, the present MP from the constituency first made his foray into politics with the Samajwadi Party. After losing to current CM of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, switching sides to the BJP helped him become an MP in 2014.
Age: 48
Education: Master’s in Physical Education
Strength: The Purvanchali vote bank
Weakness: Defying Supreme Court orders, Tiwari broke the seals from homes which had been locked up for flouting building rules. The poor of the constituency blame the incumbent government for not doing enough for their development.
His words: Kejriwal’s party spreads falsehood of voter deletion to mislead traders… Sometimes, they pressure officers to implement sealing

Sheila Dixit (Congress)

One of the most, if not the most famous political faces in Delhi, the former CM got a drubbing in the 2013 Assembly elections. This time around, a loss will be harder to swallow as the Congress Delhi in-charge faces BJP’s in-charge Manoj Tiwari.
Age: 75
Education: Master’s in History, PhD in Philosophy
Strength: Three-time MLA, former CM of Delhi has unmatched experience when it comes to her opponents. She has been credited with changing the infrastructure of the capital and bringing in the metro.
Weakness: She lost out massively in the Assembly elections. Her age may be counted as a disadvantage.
Her words: Look, CM Kejriwal, or whoever it may be, should have known what the Constitution says about the Delhi set-up. You can’t blame somebody else for not being able to do something.

Dilip Pandey (AAP)

The former convenor of the party is the much lesser-known contender in this three-way fight. But the party hopes that Pandey, originally from UP, would be a good opponent to Tiwari, bringing in the Purvanchali votes. People in slums of the constituency back AAP’s work in the fields of education, health and the bringing down of electricity and water bills. This may work in his favour.
Age: 38
Education: Master of Computer Application
Strength: Anti-corruption activist. AAP’s man in a constituency which has mostly appreciated the party’s work. Younger than his opponents
Weakness: Lesser known than his rivals. No past governance experience
His words: When in 2015 she (Sheila Dikshit) couldn’t even win her own seat then people are asking how can she win the Lok Sabha seat where there are 10 Vidhan Sabha’s seats attached to it?

East

Gautam Gambhir (BJP)

The newcomer to politics and the BJP, he will be riding on the back of his popularity as a cricketer to win votes. A vocal defender of BJP’s various policies and positions, the party’s supporters will find it easy to back him.

Age: 37
Strength: Popularity
Weakness: No experience in governance
His words: I was a cricketer, I am not a cricketer [anymore]. I did what I had to do in the cricket field, it’s a different field and it’s a different challenge… I have always had the right intention to do something good for the country and change a lot of things in society and hopefully, touch a lot of lives.

Arvinder Singh Lovely (Congress)

Age: 50
Education: MA Public Admn From Congress to BJP and back to Congress, this four-time MLA first became Delhi Pradesh Youth Congress General Secretary in 1990. He left the party in 2017 for the old rival BJP but came back a year later.
Strength: Four-time MLA, Minister in the Sheila Dikshit government. Enrolled as a voter from Gandhi Nagar, in the East constituency
Weakness: Flip-flop
His words: I was an ideological misfit in BJP. It didn’t take long to realise that. Then I told myself, I should do as much as I can for my parent party.

Atishi (AAP)

The only other woman candidate from Delhi, she is credited with the transformation of the state-run education system in the city. She is a stronger contender than her BJP counterpart owing to her service as the advisor to the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia.
Age: 37
Education: BA (History) at St. Stephen’s College. Masters from Oxford University on a Chevening scholarship. Rhodes scholar from Magdalene College.
Strength: The reported architect of Delhi’s education reforms. Strong educational background.
Weakness: No former role in governance. Removing her last name Marlena, which apparently made her sound Christian, barrier which AAP did not know how else to overcome.

New Delhi

Ajay Maken (Congress)

An important constituency, and even more for the Congress candidate to win. He was defeated from his post by BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi in the last Lok Sabha polls by over 2.7 lakh votes, and they shall meet again.

Age: 45

Education: BSc (Chemistry Honours)

Strength: Three-time MLA, two-time MP. New Delhi has many traders who have been adversely affected by the sealing drive which many believe could have been stopped by the Centre

Weakness: The seat has in the past been a stronghold of the BJP. Lost in 2014

Criminal case: One case where cognisance was taken includes IPC Section 341, related to wrongful restraint

His words: Poverty and sealing are important issues in Delhi. People want Congress.  

Meenakshi Lekhi (BJP)

During her tenure, whether she has worked or not, the sitting MP has been instrumental in changing names of three roads: Aurangzeb Road to APJ Abdul Kalam Road, Dalhousie Road to Dara Shikoh Road and then Race Course Road to Lok Kalyan Marg.
Age: 51
Education: BSc (Botany), LLB
Strength: The Modi factor
Weakness: People are upset with the MP for not being seen in the constituency
Her words: In five years, the maximum fund for area development work is ₹25 crore, but I spent ₹32 crore on my constituency. This includes the more than ₹7 crore of unspent funds left by former New Delhi MP Ajay Maken

Brijesh Goyal (AAP)

A party loyalist, Goyal is the national convenor of the AAP and head of the trade wing. The party hopes that the “trader’s leader” connection will help him garner votes in a constituency which has been plagued by sealing.

Age: 35

Education: BSc
Strength: Link with traders
Weakness: Comparatively lower popularity
His words: I have been doing yoga for around 17 years now. I feel this is a great idea to connect with people ahead of the elections.

North West

Hans Raj Hans (BJP)

A celebrity from the world of music, the BJP chose him to run in the seat reserved for SC, overriding the incumbent MP Udit Raj, a Dalit leader.

Age: 57
Education: Prep from DAV college, Guru Nanak Dev University Jalandhar.
Strength: Popular Punjabi folk and Sufi singer
Weakness: He has switched sides often. His debut in politics happened in 2009 with the Akali Dal. In 2014, he joined the Congress and then two years later, switched to the BJP.
His words: Politics is a dirty game and I was not meant for it

Gugan Singh Ranga (AAP)

The former BJP MLA joining the AAP in 2017 was seen as a major loss for the incumbent government, with Singh being a popular Dalit leader. He is however seen as a polarising figure.
Age: 71
Education: 8th grade
Strength: Stronghold in rural areas
Weakness: As a BJP man, led procession against Muharram. Older leader at a time when parties are considering to make things youth-oriented. Not as popular
His words: They (Muslims) use this occasion as a show of strength. They wield swords and play with fire and raise slogans, which disturb us. They do not have any right to disturb us.

Rajesh Lilothia (Congress)

The two-time MLA was recently made working president of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee and now will fight to become an MP. Being a voter from Patel Nagar, which falls under the New Delhi constituency, the Opposition calls him an outsider.

Age: 49
Education: BA (Hons) English, Diploma in Export Management, Advance Language course (Russian)
Strength: Experience of being a two-time MLA
Weakness: Not well known
Criminal case: One case where charges were framed, which includes IPC Section 141 related to unlawful assembly
His words: There are no government engineering and medical colleges in the region. My priority will be to address these issues and raise people’s voice in Parliament. 

This article was first published on Patriot.