The Congress is likely to field former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s son Sandeep, who was also a former MP from East Delhi, against AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal from his home turf of New Delhi, sources said following the meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) Thursday. A senior leader said the first list of candidates was likely to be released late on Thursday.
According to sources, while Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav has been picked from Badli, former Chandni Chowk MP Jai Prakash Agarwal’s son Mudit was likely to be fielded from the Chandni Chowk Assembly seat. AAP rebel and sitting Seelampur MLA Abdul Rehman, who switched to the Congress Tuesday, is likely to be fielded from the same seat.
The other picks, according to sources, include Rohit Chaudhary from Nangloi, Ali Mehdi from Mustafabad, former Delhi minister Haroon Yusuf from Ballimaran, and Abhishek Dutt from Kasturba Nagar, among others.
The CEC meeting was chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, and other senior leaders. Sources said a call was taken on an estimated 21 candidates to be fielded on as many constituencies.
The development came a day after INDIA bloc allies Congress and AAP announced that they would go it alone, despite NCP chief Sharad Pawar said to have broached the topic with Kejriwal while visiting the latter at his residence.
According to sources, the former Delhi Chief Minister had refused to go in for an alliance citing the Congress’s “unwillingness” to contest the Haryana Assembly polls with the AAP on the basis of its relatively “larger vote share”.
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