New Delhi:

The Congress Tuesday released its second list of 26 candidates for the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, fielding Farhad Suri against AAP’s Manish Sisodia from Jangpura while also giving tickets to ex-AAP MLAs Asim Khan and Devender Sehrawat.

With this list, the Congress has declared a total of 47 candidates for the elections for the 70-member Delhi Assembly.

While Khan has been fielded from Matia Mahal, Sehrawat has been given a ticket from Bijwasan. Both the former AAP MLAs joined the Congress on Monday.

Suri will take on AAP’s Sisodia from Jangpura.

The Congress also fielded Satish Luthra from Shakur Basti, Rajesh Lilothia from Seemapuri (SC), Haji Mohammad Ishraq Khan from Babarpur, Rajesh Chauhan from Deoli (SC), Pradeep Kumar Upmanyu from Delhi Cantt and Sumit Sharma from Laxmi Nagar.

The party had released its first list of 21 candidates earlier this month, fielding ex-MP Sandeep Dikshit from New Delhi, setting up a contest between him and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal.

The Congress also fielded its Delhi chief Devender Yadav from Badli, ex-Delhi minister Haroon Yusuf from Ballimaran, ex-Delhi Congress chief Chaudhary Anil Kumar from Patparganj, national spokesperson Ragini Nayak from Wazirpur and Adarsh Shastri from Dwarka.

The list came hours after the Congress’ Central Election Committee (CEC) approved it.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi participated in the CEC meeting via video conferencing while Delhi in-charge Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin and Delhi unit chief Devender Yadav, among other members of the CEC, were physically present at the AICC headquarters.

After the Congress’ CEC meeting, the party’s Delhi in-charge Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin told reporters, “Earlier the discussion happened in the screening committee meeting, now a detailed seat-wise discussion happened in the CEC meeting. There are many seats that have been cleared by the CEC. There are some pending seats.” When asked about the names of candidates on some prominent seats of Delhi, he said, “All 70 seats are important for us. We will try to fight strongly on all seats.”

The Delhi Assembly elections are likely to be held in February next year. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The BJP will not project a Chief Ministerial candidate for the Delhi polls and a “big name” will contest against Arvind Kejriwal, top party sources told NDTV on Friday.

Not naming a Chief Minister is a strategy that the BJP has followed in Maharashtra, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, among other states.

Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party or AAP – earlier than other parties in the poll race – has already announced candidates for all 70 seats for the elections due early next year.

The sources said that the BJP is “extremely confident” of giving a tough fight in the New Delhi seat held by Arvind Kejriwal and a “big name” will be contesting against the former Chief Minister.

Days after securing bail in the liquor policy case in September, Mr Kejriwal quit as Chief Minister naming Atishi in his place.  

“I got justice from the legal court, now I will get justice from the people’s court. I will sit on the Chief Minister’s chair only after the order of the people,” said Mr Kejriwal in September, who is now on a padyatra (foot march) across all Delhi constituencies.

The BJP plans to target the Delhi government over alleged corruption, said the source, adding anti-incumbency is the other point on which the BJP is banking on.

Former BJP MPs and those who were not given the ticket in 2024 Lok Sabha polls may be asked to contest the Delhi polls, the source said further.

Some seats will also be distributed between Chirag Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party and Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United, BJP allies.

On Wednesday, the BJP announced a 21-member State Election Committee tasked with screening of potential candidates. Later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-chaired Central Election Committee will meet to take the final call.

In 2015, the AAP won 67 seats and the BJP just three. In the next election in 2020, the AAP won 62 seats and the BJP eight. The Congress failed to open its account on both occasions.
 

New Delhi:

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has called for a preparatory meeting this week over next year’s Delhi elections. The dates for the much-anticipated polls will be announced shortly after this meeting, sources said. 

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has released the names of its candidates for all 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly. Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has confirmed that he will contest from his New Delhi seat in the upcoming polls while Chief Minister Atishi will fight from her Kalkaji constituency.  

The Congress has fielded Sandeep Dikshit, son of the late three-time Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, while BJP may put forward Parvesh Verma, son of the late Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma for the polls. The BJP candidates’ list for the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, expected around last week of this month, is likely to have a significant number of fresh faces, party leaders said on Monday.

Ahead of elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly, due in February, the BJP has launched a massive outreach campaign to get a foothold in the city’s slums, considered to be strongholds of the ruling AAP.

The party received over 2,000 applications from the workers and leaders from all the 70 constituencies for the ticket to contest the elections, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.

“A significant enthusiasm for the BJP is being witnessed among various sections of the society in Delhi as the city gears up for the assembly elections,” he said in a statement.

The BJP leaders said the process for candidates’ selection was in an advanced stage and three probables on each constituency were already shortlisted.

The BJP out of power in Delhi since 1998 is making all efforts to upstage the ruling AAP that has dominated the assembly elections since 2015. The AAP romped home winning 67 and 62 seats, respectively in the last two assembly polls in 2015 and 2020.