New Delhi: As the BJP revelled in winning the Delhi Assembly elections after 27 long years, its victory was made sweeter with second-generation politician Parvesh Verma proving to be a ‘giant killer’ as he defeated Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convenor and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
For the 47-year-old son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma, it was perhaps the biggest electoral victory in his over-a-decade-old political career when he was declared winner of the prestigious New Delhi Assembly constituency, after a keen see-saw battle that saw him trailing Kejriwal in the initial rounds of counting.
The victory of Parvesh Verma, though with a small margin of 4,089 votes, has immense significance as he was locked in a three-cornered electoral fight involving heavy-weights like Kejriwal and Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit, son of three-time popular former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
Kejriwal, who was known as a ‘giant killer’ in the December 2013 Assembly elections when he defeated the sitting CM Sheila Dikshit in the New Delhi Assembly constituency, retained the seat ever since by winning it twice again, in 2015 and 2020.
Kejriwal, a former bureaucrat, marked his entry into politics in 2013, on the back of an massive ‘anti-corruption’ agitation led by activist Anna Hazare and his promise to present the people “different” and “clean” politics.
Interestingly, Parvesh Verma also entered active politics in the same year and got his electoral victory from Delhi’s Mehrauli Assembly constituency.
A year later, the BJP fielded Verma from the West Delhi Lok Sabha seat, which he won, and got re-elected in 2019 with the highest-ever margin of victory – 578,486 votes – in Delhi’s history.
During his Lok Sabha tenure, Parvesh Verma served as a member of the Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances and in the parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban Development.
In January this year, the BJP picked Parvesh Verma to take on Kejriwal in the high-stakes New Delhi constituency that had another heavyweight candidate in Congressman Sandeep Dikshit.
Parvesh Verma, a Jat, canvassed hard on the plank of the AAP government’s alleged corruption and non-performance. Matching Kejriwal’s aggressiveness, he initiated a campaign christened “Remove Kejriwal, Save the Nation”, lambasting the AAP government for not fulfilling its primary commitments.
And at the end of a month-long no-holds-barred campaign has come the sweet taste of victory, making the 1977-born Verma the most sought-after politician for the media, and raising his stature both in the party and among the masses.
Married, and a father of two, Verma is an alumnus of Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Kirori Mal College under University of Delhi and is an MBA in International Business from Fore School of Management.
On his big day, Parvesh Verma’s supporters are hoping for a bigger role for him in the new government to be formed in Delhi. The coming days can only decide whether their dreams will come true.
