NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Tuesday announced four candidates from Delhi one from Haryana for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding senior leader Somnath Bharti from the New Delhi seat and former Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta from Kurukshetra. The party announced the five names after a meeting of its Political Affairs Committee chaired by Delhi Chief Minister and the party’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal.
Lok Sabha चुनाव के लिए आज घोषित हुए AAP के प्रत्याशी।
सभी को ढेरों बधाई और शुभकामनाएं। pic.twitter.com/z16z8TEdiV
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) February 27, 2024
AAP national general secretary (Organisation) Sandeep Pathak announced the name of the candidates at a press conference here.
Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti, who is also the Delhi Jal Board vice chairman, has been fielded from the New Delhi constituency, Kondli MLA Kuldeep Kumar from East Delhi, Sahiram Pehelwan from South Delhi and former MP Mahabal Mishra from the West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. The party declared former Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Gupta its candidate from Kurukshetra in Haryana.
In Delhi, the party has joined hands with INDIA bloc ally Congress for the Lok Sabha polls. The AAP and Congress have arrived at a 4-3 seat-sharing arrangement for Delhi. The AAP had already announced its three candidates for Assam and two for Gujarat.
During the press conference, Atishi said the main criterion the party followed in the selection of candidates was their presence among people to serve them. ”If you ask about our four candidates, people from their areas will say they are available 24×7 for public service and that is why they have been selected as candidates,” she said. She also stressed that the party does not believe in caste-based politics.
AAP INDIA Alliance में है। 5 States में AAP 23 Candidates उतारेगी।
5 Announce कर चुके हैं। आज 5 और कर रहे हैं:
▪️Sh. Somnath Bharti (New Delhi)
▪️Sh. Sahiram Pahalwan (South Delhi)
▪️Sh. Mahabal Mishra (West Delhi)
▪️Sh. Kuldeep (East Delhi)
▪️Sh. Sushil Gupta (Kurukshetra,… pic.twitter.com/Ua0UKfmB7q— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) February 27, 2024
”In the country, seats are categorised as Brahmin-dominated, Bania-dominated and Jat-dominated. But the AAP has broken the equations of caste. We have launched fresh, young persons devoted to public service, in politics. Kuldeep Kumar alias Monu was an ordinary AAP volunteer up to 2017. He has reached here through hard work: first becoming a councilor, then an MLA, and now I hope he will reach Parliament as well,” she added. Kejriwal said only the AAP is fulfilling the dream of Babasaheb Ambedkar by giving a ticket to a person from the SC community.
”East Delhi is a general category seat. From here, we have given ticket to Kuldeep Kumar of the SC community. No party gives tickets to SC community from general seats. Only AAP is fulfilling Babasaheb’s dream. Kuldeep Kumar is the son of a sanitation worker and comes from a very poor family. Presently he is MLA from Kondli Assembly. Need blessings from all of you,” Kejriwal said in a post on X in Hindi. It was speculated that Delhi mayor Shelly Oberoi could be fielded from New Delhi but the party announced Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti from the constituency.
There is no woman among the 10 candidates the AAP has announced so far for Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, Gujarat, Assam and Haryana.
Last time, the party had fielded Atishi from the East Delhi constituency, Raghav Chadha from South Delhi, Brijesh Goyal from New Delhi, Pankaj Gupta from Chandni Chowk, Dilip Pandey from North East Delhi, Gugan Singh from North West Delhi and Balbir Singh Jakhad from West Delhi.
The AAP contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from all seven seats in Delhi, emerging as runner-up on two and was relegated to the third spot on the remainder. The battle lines for the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi are now clearly defined with the AAP-Congress taking on the BJP.
Source: Press Trust of India
