The Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday announced Lok Sabha election candidates for Delhi and Haryana. The candidates’ announcement comes two days after the AAP and Congress finalised the seat sharing deal.
Kuldeep Kumar, a sitting MLA from Kondli, will be AAP’s candidate from East Delhi. The constituency is currently represented by BJP’s Gautam Gambhir. The party has fielded Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti from New Delhi, currently represented by Meenakshi Lekhi from the BJP. Bharti is also the Delhi Jal Board vice-chairman.
Mahabal Mishra, a former Congress MP from West Delhi, is contesting from the same constituency, this time on an AAP ticket. The 70-year-old leader had quit the Congress years ago and will be contesting the seat with a high number of Purvanchali voters. He had unsuccessfully contested the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections against BJP’s Parvesh Verma.
“… I have full faith in the people. I have been with the people earlier too and I believe the people will reward me,” Mishra told ANI.
The AAP has fielded Tughlakabad MLA Sahi Ram Pahalwan from South Delhi seat. The constituency is currently represented by BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri.
According to the seat sharing formula with the AAP, Congress will contest on North East Delhi, North West, and Chandni Chowk seats. All the three seats are represented by BJP in the Lok Sabha.
In Haryana, AAP has fielded former Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta from Kurukshetra. The AAP had already announced its three candidates for Assam and two for Gujarat.
As far as Delhi is concerned, a similar seat sharing formula was proposed by then Congress chief Rahul Gandhi during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. But the talks between the two parties had collapsed. The BJP had clinched all seven seats in the Capital in the 2019 elections in a rout for the AAP and Congress who together secured fewer than 50% of the votes polled.
Besides AAP, the Congress has also struck a seat sharing arrangement with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state that sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha. The grand old party will contest on 17 seats while SP and other allies will contest on the remaining 63.
Article Source: hindustantimes.com
