New Delhi:

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva will not be contesting in the upcoming Assembly elections, sources told NDTV. This comes amid talks that he might be contesting in the polls.

The BJP is yet to release their first list of candidates for the elections, while the incumbent Aam Aadmi Party has released their full list. 

The elections in the National Capital are scheduled for February.

The Aam Aadmi Party has been in power since 2015, securing a thumping majority twice in the Assembly elections. But, in the Lok Sabha elections, AAP has failed to win a single seat since 2014 and BJP won all seven.

The upcoming elections are being viewed as a fiercely contested battle between BJP and AAP, which is witnessing an aggressive poster war, with BJP alleging that AAP is resorting to voter fraud in a bid to retain power and the latter countering with a video poster of Mr Kejriwal labelled “GOAT” (Greatest of All Time).

On January 1, the Delhi BJP chief wrote a letter to Mr Kejriwal, asking him to give up his “bad habits of lying and cheating.”

“All of us, since our childhood, take a resolution on New Year’s Day to give up bad habits and do something good and new. Today, on the first day of New Year 2025, all the people of Delhi hope that you will bring about meaningful change in yourself by giving up your bad habits of lying and cheating,” Mr Sachdeva, the Delhi BJP chief, wrote in his letter.

He asked the former Chief Minister to apologise to the people of Delhi for promoting liquor. The exchange of letters came after Mr Kejriwal wrote a letter to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, raising questions related to the actions of the BJP, including whether the RSS thinks that the ruling party is “weakening democracy.”

In the heated campaign, AAP alleged that the BJP is getting voters’ names struck off the list in a desperate attempt to win the election, the BJP has accused them of getting fake voters’ names added to the list to bolster its support.

Mr Kejriwal said the BJP had officially sought the removal of names of over 11,000 votes in Shahdara Assembly segment. “We won the Assembly seat last time by a margin of 5,000 votes. If these 11,000 names were struck off, there would be no chance for a win this time. But they were caught red-handed and those names were not deleted. We are thankful to the Chief Election Officer for stopping this.”

State BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, on the other hand, said the number of voters in Delhi saw a huge jump between the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and the Assembly election next year. The same, he said, was observed after the 2019 general election. “Who got these new voters? There are no answers. They are trying to play the same game this time. BJP is saying those who don’t live in Delhi anymore, those who have died, why should their names be on the list?”

New Delhi:

Ahead of the upcoming 2025 Delhi assembly elections, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Virendra Sachdeva on Wednesday wrote a letter to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to give up his “bad habits of lying and cheating.”

“All of us, since our childhood, take a resolution on New Year’s Day to give up bad habits and do something good and new. Today, on the first day of New Year 2025, all the people of Delhi hope that you will bring about meaningful change in yourself by giving up your bad habits of lying and cheating,” Mr Sachdeva, the Delhi BJP chief, wrote in his letter.

#WATCH | Delhi | State BJP President Virendraa Sachdeva reaches a post office in Delhi to post a letter to AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal.

Reciting the letter, he says, “On the first day of the New Year, the people of Delhi hope that you give up your habit of lying and… pic.twitter.com/WYMEAs3XUA

— ANI (@ANI) January 1, 2025

He asked Mr Kejriwal to take five resolutions, demanding an apology from the people of Delhi for promoting liquor in Delhi.

The BJP leader also asked Mr Kejriwal to stop making “false” promises and stop playing with the sentiments of women, elderly and religious people.

“I trust you will never swear falsely on your children again. You will publicly apologise for the false assurances given regarding the cleaning of Mother Yamuna and the unpardonable crime of corruption. You will pledge not to meet donations from anti-national forces or take donations for political gains,” Mr Sachdeva wrote.

प्रदेश अध्यक्ष श्री @Virend_Sachdeva का पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री अरविंद केजरीवाल को पत्र! pic.twitter.com/poRXsiO9oG

— BJP Delhi (@BJP4Delhi) January 1, 2025

Mr Sachdeva further suggested that the former Chief Minister of Delhi keep away from “lies and deceit” by improving himself.

This comes after Mr Kejriwal wrote a letter to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, raising several questions related to the actions of the BJP, including whether the RSS thinks that the ruling party is weakening democracy.

In the letter, Mr Kejriwal sought clarification on various issues concerning the BJP’s conduct and its impact on democracy.

Mr Kejriwal asked Mr Bhagwat whether the RSS supported the wrongdoings of the BJP in the past. He also questions the practice of BJP leaders openly distributing money and whether RSS supports the BJP in buying votes.

Additionally, Mr Kejriwal raised concerns about the large-scale cutting of Dalit and Purvanchali votes, asking if the RSS believes this is right for democracy.

Earlier on Monday, AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar accused the BJP of attempting to manipulate voters in Delhi, specifically in the Shadara constituency, where she claims BJP leader Vishal Bharadwaj submitted applications for the deletion of voters.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva on Monday visited the Ghazipur landfill where garbage caught fire a day before and charged it was an example of “corruption” of the AAP government.

Within one year of BJP coming to power in Delhi, this garbage dump will be removed, he claimed.

No immediate reaction was available from the Aam Aadmi Party over Sachdeva’s allegation.

Thick plumes of smoke still rose skywards from the Ghazipur landfill on Monday, hours after a major fire broke out there.

According to the Delhi Fire Service, the landfill witnessed a big fire Sunday evening due to the gases produced in the massive mountain of waste.

“The Ghazipur garbage dump is a direct example of corruption by the Kejriwal government. They had promised to remove this mountain of garbage by 2023 but another has risen here. This is because of the MCD’s corruption. More than half of the machines are non-functional. Why were they not repaired?” Sachdeva said.

“It will be removed within a year after the day BJP forms government in Delhi,” he added.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had, ahead of the 2022 MCD election, promised to clear the landfill site by December 31, 2023.

All the same, the mountain of garbage continues to grow.

In 2019, the height of the Ghazipur landfill was 65 metres, only eight metres less than the Qutub Minar.

In 2017, a portion of the garbage at the dumping yard fell on an adjacent road, killing two people.

Three incidents of fire were reported at the Ghazipur landfill in 2022, one of which, on March 28, took more than 50 hours to be doused.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)