Vijay Jolly till recently had kept himself aloof from the head-hunting process, but has now taken up the “challenge” to fight Dikshit, sources said. He had instead been lobbying hard for a ticket from Malviya Nagar.

The party has struggled in recent weeks to find suitable candidates against Congress heavyweights, and not many are eager to face Dikshit at all. However, state president Dr Harsh Vardhan insisted that 11 partymen had thrown in their hats for the chief minister’s New Delhi constituency. “Several other names are being looked at,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said.

The BJP had initially considered Vani Tripathi, a member of the BJP’s national women’s wing and also a familiar face in television serials. She developed cold feet, sources said, and has set her heart on the Vikaspuri constituency. The only other candidate considered for the seat was Meera Shastri, who heads the state women’s wing. The BJP has finalised the name of sitting MLA Moti Lal Sodhi against Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf, who has triumphed thrice from Ballimaran. Sodhi had fought from Ram Nagar last elections, which no longer exists after delimitation. He had won narrowly.

The BJP has said there are nearly 20 candidates for Finance Minister Dr A K Walia, but none weighty enough to topple the balance in his constituency Laxmi Nagar. Murari Singh Pawar, former MLA and head of Delhi BJP’s Uttaranchal division, is trying for a ticket. There are only new faces being considered for Urban Development Minister Rajkumar Chauhan, sources said. The party says nearly 20 names are doing the rounds for this Mangolpuri seat. It is learnt party office-bearer Yogesh Attre has almost got the nod here.

In Gandhi Nagar, 27 partymen wanted a face-off with Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely, including Yuva Morcha leader Jeetu and Mahila Morcha leader Kalpana Jain. BJP sources said their candidates were not strong enough to take on Lovely who won last with a huge margin. The party might hand over the seat to the Akali Dal.

The party has drawn a blank against Industries Minister Mangat Ram Singhal too but two probable contenders are Roshan Bansal and Jai Prakash Yadav.

The Congress has not made up its mind in Malviya Nagar. But the BJP has frittered away this edge because local leaders don’t see eye to eye in this constituency. While state Health Minister Yoganand Shastri wants a ticket from the Congress, a section of the BJP want heavyweight Ram Bhaj to fight him, while another faction wants chartered accountant Sunil Vashist.

Other names that might figure on the list include former judge Rajesh Kashyap, who is trying to get a ticket from Seemapuri, and former additional district magistrate S H Jafri, who is eyeing Mustafabad.