As Delhi Sees Saffron Sweep In 2025, Here Are BJP’s 3 Hindutva Faces The Party Can’t Ignore

What Sachdeva was doing was not a simple practice but a projection of his Hindutva self — many Delhi BJP leaders feel is a requirement for the top job now that the party is back in power.

Here are the three Hindutva faces of Delhi BJP that you should know.

Parvesh Sahib Singh

A former Member of Parliament, son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma — Parvesh Sahib Singh’s first tweet after it was apparent the BJP was winning Delhi was ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Throughout the campaign, he preferred to wear a tilak to communicate a subtle point of Hindutva — which may have been softened but not vanished.

Verma, known for his controversial statements, was banned for 24 hours by the Election Commission of India during the 2020 assembly election campaign after referring to Arvind Kejriwal as a “terrorist".

In 2022, then BJP MP from West Delhi, Verma, called for the “total boycott" of people from a particular community during the ‘Hindu Mahasabha’ event, which was organised by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Delhi. Verma had said, “They are selling things in makeshift stalls. You need not buy vegetables from their stalls. They sell non-vegetarian food. We should ask MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) and get all the shops, whose owners don’t have licences, shut. Boycott their restaurants."

This event caused embarrassment to the party enough for JP Nadda to reportedly seek unedited footage of his speech which he had made while addressing the meeting. Ever since, Parvesh Sahib Singh has changed much but he has kept his Hindutva image intact. He has been the giant killer this time by defeating Arvind Kejriwal from the New Delhi seat.

Kapil Mishra

Delhi BJP’s quintessential Hindutva face, who kickstarted a nationwide service of cleaning and maintenance of temple — Kapil Mishra is one of the biggest saffron faces of Delhi unit. He defeated AAP’s Manoj’s Tyagi from Karawal Nagar with a huge margin — a seat that still has 2020 Delhi riot sentiment.

One thing about Kapil Mishra that sets him apart from the rest, he minces no word. He accepts he will fight for his community and he accepts that he has no regrets for issuing the infamous “ultimatum" to the Delhi Police to clear the road. Something that draws international attention from extreme right-of-centre handles on X hailing his win.

“What’s the point of being in politics if roads are kept closed, our kids can’t go to school, patients can’t go to the hospital, they are robbed of their right to be treated, someone manufactures petrol bombs on roofs, arranges bricks there (a reference to Tahir Hussain who was found with such evidence from roofs) and we keep sitting? Then, why in the first place did we come to politics? I am happy that when the crisis struck, I was not an MLA, nor a postholder of the BJP. But when the crisis came, I was on the roads with people, making demands to open roads. I am glad I did that. According to me, this is what politics should look like," was Mishra’s clear answer.

Virendra Sachdeva

He was the Delhi BJP chief who did not take part in the electoral process but was an integral part of BJP’s offensive that yielded results on Saturday. He may not have been known as a hard-core Hindutva face as Kapil Mishra or a rabid one as Parvesh Sahib Singh who the party had to tame over time, but he has created a niche for himself in the politics of Hindutva where Sachdeva not only exists but thrives.

He prefers temple visits on important days according to the Hindu calendar just like the result day which also happened to be Jaya Ekadashi. His work desk at Pandit Pant Marg office has a small Rishi Aurobindo portrait and, many Gods and Goddesses placed across the room and a huge portrait of Bharat Mata.

Those close to him say he knows Ramayana and Mahabharata by heart. So, when Arvind Kejriwal during an election speech made a reference to the abduction of Goddess Sita, Sachdeva immediately thought it called for a street protest. He claimed Kejriwal misquoted Ramayana and Sachdeva went to Hanuman temple at Connaught Place and claimed he would hold a symbolic fast against Kejriwal. Sachdeva called Kejriwal ‘chunavi Hindus’ (opportunistic Hindus).