Congress Fields Sheila Dikshit From North East Delhi, Ajay Maken From New Delhi

Congress is fielding former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit from North East Delhi and former state unit chief Ajay Maken from New Delhi, the party announced on Monday as it named candidates for six of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.

The Congress also fielded Arvinder Singh Lovely from East Delhi, Rajesh Lilothia from North-West Delhi and Mahabal Mishra from West Delhi.

The party’s list indicates it will not be in alliance with AAP in the capital.

The BJP had on Sunday declared four sitting MPs as its candidates from Delhi. Names for the three remaining seats are expected to be announced by Monday. 

The party has again nominated Harsh Vardhan and BJP state unit president Manoj Tiwari from Chandni Chowk and North East Delhi seats respectively.

Former Delhi chief minister Saheb Singh Verma’s son Parvesh Verma has been fielded from West Delhi and Ramesh Bidhuri from South Delhi.

The BJP is yet to declare candidates for North West Delhi, New Delhi and East Delhi seats.

“The names of sitting MPs are under consideration from the seats. However, the party may spring surprise by fielding new faces on these seats such as former cricketer Gautam Gambhir from New Delhi seat currently held by Meenakshi Lekhi,” a senior BJP leader said.

AAP- Congress alliance talks

Of the three main parties in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party has declared names for all seven seats. Congress and AAP were engaged in hectic parleys on a pre-poll tie-up to avoid division of votes. However, the talks have not materialised yet.

The AAP has been seeking an alliance with the Congress extending to Haryana along with Delhi, but the Congress has made clear that it will not have a tie-up anywhere other than the national capital. 

The nomination process ends on April 23. All the seats in Delhi will vote on May 12.

On Monday, six of AAP’s candidates Atishi (East Delhi), Dilip Pandey (North East Delhi), Guggan Singh (North West Delhi), Raghav Chadha (South Delhi), Brijesh Goyal (New Delhi) and Pankaj Gupta (Chandni Chowk) will file their nominations, the party said.

AAP’s West Delhi candidate Balbir Singh Jakhar had filed his nomination papers on Thursday.