Both Verma and Sharma will be going all out to win the seat as their political future in their respective parties would depend a great deal on their performance.

The stakes are much higher for Verma, who was removed unceremoniously as Delhi chief minister last year following sharp rise in onion prices, than for Sharma who suffered a defeat in the last Lok Sabha as well as Assembly polls against BJP. Sharma was defeated by BJP rival K L Sharma by over 2.5 lakh votes in the 1998 LS polls.