New Delhi, Dec 24 (PTI) With the wait for the BJP's candidate list for the Delhi assembly election likely to end this week, the buzz over ticket distribution has intensified within the party as former Union ministers, ex-MPs and top office bearers of Delhi unit are in the race.

The central election committee of the BJP will take a call on the final list of candidates for the 70 Assembly constituencies. A date for the meeting of the committee is yet to be fixed, said a senior Delhi BJP leader.

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Party leaders said that the list of shortlisted potential candidates, 3-4 per constituency, was readied by the state election committee and the final announcement of the candidates was likely to begin this week.

The top contenders among the ticket seekers include former Union ministers Harsh Vardhan from Krishna Nagar constituency in East Delhi and Meenakshi Lekhi from Kasturba Nagar, party leaders claimed.

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Former West Delhi MP Parvesh Verma has already claimed that the national leaders have asked him to make preparations from the New Delhi constituency. The seat has been held by AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal since 2013.

Another heavyweight, Ramesh Bidhuri, a former South Delhi MP, is said to be the top contender for the ticket from the Kalkaji constituency represented in the outgoing Assembly by Chief Minister Atishi who has been fielded again from the seat by the Aam Aadmi Party.

In the race are also many prominent office bearers of the Delhi BJP as well as former state presidents and mayors.

From Malviya Nagar seat, former Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay is staking claim. Another former Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta is seeking a ticket from the New Delhi seat citing his work in the constituency in the last two years.

Ravindra Gupta, former north Delhi mayor, is one of the top contenders from the Sadar Bazar seat where Jai Prakash, another former mayor, is also in the race. Jai Prakash lost the seat in 2020 polls to AAP's Som Dutt.

Delhi BJP general secretary Vishnu Gupta and Raj Kumar Bhatia are also said to be ahead in the race from different constituencies.

The elections for the 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi are due to be held in February next year.

The presidents of various 'Morchas' and cells of the Delhi BJP are also vying for tickets. Mohan Lal Gihara, SC Morcha president, is keen to contest from the Madipur reserved constituency. Former chief minister Madan Lal Khurana's son Harish Khurana is also a top contender from the Moti Nagar seat along with Virender Babbar.

The BJP, out of power in Delhi since 1998, has pulled all the stops to win the polls and replace AAP which has been dominating since 2013.

In the last two Assembly elections in 2015 and 2020, the AAP routed the BJP restricting it to three and eight seats, respectively.

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