AAP names candidates on six of seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi
NEW DELHI: Putting an end to the flurry of speculations over an alliance with the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday announced names of candidates on six of seven seats in Delhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Addressing a Press conference here, Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai said Atishi will contest from East Delhi, Guggan Singh from North-West Delhi, Raghav Chadha from South, Dilip Pandey from North-East, Pankaj Gupta from Chandni Chowk and Brijesh Goyal will contest from New Delhi seats.
Rai said the candidate for West Delhi will be announced soon. However, there is still some tension in the air as the observers raised questions over the non-declaration of one seat and also giving a ticket to not so popular leaders from seats like North-West or New Delhi and also Chandni Chowk. The speculation, however, is that if Congress later agrees to form an alliance then these seats could be dropped.
The announcement comes at a time when there are rumours of a possible tie-up between the AAP and the Congress for the Lok Sabha battle although the Congress' Delhi unit is known to be bitterly opposed to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his party.
During a meeting of 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) leaders at NCP chief Sharad Pawar's residence last month, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had refused a proposal for a tie-up between his party and the AAP citing opposition from the grand old party's Delhi unit leaders, Rai claimed.
The Delhi Congress, in its meeting on Friday in presence of its president Sheila Dikshit, had decided to convey to the party high command that it was against an alliance with the AAP in Delhi. "We (Delhi Congress leaders) held a meeting today as we normally do. During the meeting, the issue of a possible alliance with the AAP was discussed. It was unanimously resolved not to have a tie-up with them. I will convey the sentiments of the state leadership to (PC) Chackoji tomorrow," Dikshit said.
However, Rai claimed that AAP wanted an alliance. But Sheila Dikshit's refusal led us to our way as we felt there is no more time to wait as elections are near.
Reacting on getting the ticket for LS Poll, AAP South Delhi candidate Raghav Chadha said," Deeply humbled by the trust placed in me by Aam Aadmi Party and our convenor Arvind Kejriwal. It would be both a great responsibility and an opportunity to serve the people of South Delhi, represent them in Lok Sabha. I have spent the better part of the last year walking the streets of South Delhi as prabhari, interacting with the citizens and let me tell you it has been an unmatched learning experience."
