Delhi assembly elections 2025: Will BJP field Arvinder Singh Lovely from East Delhi's Gandhi Nagar seat? 

The Gandhi Nagar assembly constituency in East Delhi is among one of the top battlegrounds for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BJP is faced with a 'problem of plenty' on this seat as it has two strong contenders -- Arvinder Singh Lovely and Anil Bajpai. 

In a boost to the BJP, Lovely joined the saffron party in May this year ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He quit the Congress due to the grand old party's alliance with the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the national capital during the general elections. 

Lovely could be a potential candidate for the BJP because of his substantial influence in the area and experience of working in the Delhi government. He is also renowned for his political acumen. 

Anil Bajpai, on the other hand, had defected from the AAP to the BJP in 2020. Bajpai's shift to the BJP was seen as a strategic move in 2020 as it provided the saffron party with some standing in the East Delhi region where they previously faced challenges. 

Moreover, Bajpai won the seat for the second time in the 2020 assembly polls with 48,824 votes and a vote share of 42.64 per cent. In this election, Lovely finished at the third spot with 21,913 votes.

Bajpai had bagged the Gandhi Nagar seat on an AAP ticket in 2015 as well with more than 50,000 votes in his kitty. 

The BJP's challenges in the assembly constituency are compounded its demographic composition. The constituency comprises around 25 per cent Muslim voters, a segment that traditionally does not support the BJP. 

Besides demography constraints, the area is adversely impacted by encroachment and a serious lack of organised parking facilities, leading to traffic congestion and safety hazards for pedestrians and motorists alike. 

Other civic issues that the assembly constituency faces include inadequate waste management, poor road conditions, and insufficient public amenities. Moreover, the AAP announced plans to redevelop the Gandhi Nagar market into a "Great Garment Hub of Asia" in its 2022-24 Rozgaar budget. 

The AAP failed to fulfill its grand promise to local traders, who were banking on this development to boost their businesses. 

(With inputs from Kumar Kunal)