BJP begins talks to select Delhi CM; oath-taking likely after PM’s U.S. visit

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva and other party leaders seen during a meeting at Delhi BJP office in New Delhi on February 9, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

A day after winning 48 out of the 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly elections, a delegation of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s winning candidates in the capital, led by Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, met Lieutenant Governor (L-G) V.K. Saxena on Sunday (February 9, 2025). Earlier in the day, Mr. Sachdeva had requested time to meet the L-G with the 48 MLAs and seven MPs.

Mr. Sachdeva was accompanied by Parvesh Sahib Singh, who defeated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi, Kailash Gahlot, former AAP Minister who switched over to the BJP in November 2024, and Arvinder Singh Lovely, who was the chief of the Congress’s Delhi unit before jumping ship in May last year.

BJP sources said it was a courtesy call and another meeting with other new MLAs was yet to be scheduled. L-G office sources said the meeting’s time had not been fixed.

Earlier, the BJP MLAs started their day with roadshows and rallies, thanking their constituents for the victory of the party. The 48 MLAs later met at the Delhi BJP Headquarters.

The BJP has come to power in the capital after 28 years, defeating the AAP, which ruled the city for over a decade.

Outgoing Chief Minister Atishi, who retained her seat in Kalkaji in the Assembly polls, submitted her resignation to the L-G at 11 a.m. Mr. Saxena asked her to continue until the new government’s formation is complete.

Meanwhile, the party’s topmost leadership, including party president J.P. Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah met with Delhi election in-charge Baijayant Panda and Mr. Sachdeva to discuss the Chief Minister’s name for the capital. Sources in the party added that since Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not in the country, the oath taking for the new MLAs will happen once he is back. The Chief Minister’s name will be announced then accordingly.

A party leader said the meeting at the BJP State office was to ensure all MLAs were introduced to each other before their term begins officially.

Call for transparency

The seven Delhi MPs also participated in the scheduled meetings with their area MLAs during the day. Senior leaders provided the MLAs with guidance on working within proper organisational and administrative frameworks. They also emphasised that all MLAs should maintain complete transparency in their working style, the BJP said in a statement.

During the meetings, the leaders drew attention to Mr. Modi’s victory message and stated that without wasting any time, efforts should begin to build a developed Delhi, in line with the Prime Minister’s vision.

Among the top priorities for the new MLAs are a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe against the outgoing Aam Aadmi Party, a promise which senior BJP leaders made during the campaign period; tabling of the pending Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports in the first Assembly session as well as ensuring all poll promises are kept in a quick manner.

The AAP government’s corruption would be exposed once the 14 CAG reports on the city administration were tabled in the Assembly, the BJP’s Rohini MLA Vijender Gupta said on Sunday (February 9, 2025). He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. Responding to this, the AAP, in a statement, said “We hope that the BJP will abandon its negative politics and focus on the real issues of the people.”

“To date, not a single charge has been proven against him (Mr. Kejriwal). This is precisely why, despite implementing several welfare schemes, the erstwhile AAP-led Delhi government maintained a revenue surplus,” the AAP leaders added.