Delhi government formation: BJP intensifies preparations as new CM's oath likely on Feb 20

BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal criticizes past government for delayed Yamuna clean-up and praises PM Modi for fulfilling his promise.

AAP will stand with the people of Delhi, working together to challenge any anti-people policies from BJP: AAP leader Gopal Rai.

Delhi BJP Leaders Virendraa Sachdeva and Tarun Chugh attend meeting to discuss CM oath-taking and legislative party preparations.

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva warns AAP leaders that they will be too occupied with legal battles once BJP forms the government.

BJP legislature party meeting on Feb 19; Delhi CM's swearing-in on Feb 20 at Ram Leela Maidan.

Amid growing speculations, five key names have emerged for the Chief Minister's post in Delhi. These include Parvesh Verma, who defeated AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal in New Delhi, and Ramesh Bidhuri, who lost to former CM Atishi from Kalkaji.

Other contenders being discussed are BJP MP Manoj Tiwari, Kapil Mishra, Ashish Sood, Rekha Gupta, and Vijender Gupta.

The BJP's vote share in Delhi has grown by nearly 13 percentage points in the last 10 years while the AAP's vote share has declined by nearly 10 percentage points during the same period. In the keenly contested Assembly polls in Delhi, there was a difference of only two per cent between the vote shares of the BJP and AAP. While BJP managed to win 48 seats, AAP plunged to 22

The new Delhi Chief Minister is likely to take oath at the iconic ground Ramlila Maidan on February 20, said the sources on Monday.

The newly-elected MLAs of the BJP are likely to meet in New Delhi on February 19 to choose the new Chief Minister of Delhi, party sources said. The national leadership of the BJP will send its observers for the legislature party meeting, in which the leader of the House in the Delhi Assembly will be elected, they said.

The BJP returned to power in Delhi after 27 years to sweep away the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party with a two-thirds majority. The BJP won 48 of the 70 assembly seats at stake.

Delhi's caretaker CM and AAP leader Atishi said, "10 days have passed since the results of the Delhi elections were declared. The people of Delhi had expected that the BJP would declare its CM face on the 9th, the swearing-in ceremony would take place on the 10th and then their work would begin. But the public kept waiting. Even after ten days, the BJP has not been able to decide on the CM. It has been proved that the BJP does not have a single CM candidate to run the Delhi government. Today, it is clear that the Prime Minister does not trust any of the 48 MLAs; none of them has the ability to run the government..."

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in Delhi after a gap of 27 years, winning the Assembly polls held on February 5. It ended the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) 10-year rule in Delhi. The saffron party won 48 of the 70 Assembly seats in the capital.