NEW DELHI: The Delhi Congress put its house in order with the local unit submitting its list of seven candidates to the central leadership on Tuesday, hours after Rahul Gandhi said he was “very flexible” on stitching alliances across the country.
The decision comes even as there is seemingly no end to the stalemate over a possible alliance between the Aam Aadmi Party and the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier in the day, Rahul said his party was open to stitching alliances and was “very flexible” on the issue.
“There is no confusion on this. The situation is actually very clear on this issue. We have constructed alliances. We have been open to construct alliances, and we have done it across the country. We are very flexible on this issue,” he said, after releasing the party manifesto.
But, the Delhi unit’s screen committee cleared names for seven parliamentary constituencies in the national capital and sent the list to the Central leadership for final approval. Importantly, none of the former Congress candidates of 2014 found a place on the list.
According to a senior Delhi Congress functionary, the names of seven possible candidates chosen for the city are Pawan Khera (East Delhi), Yoganand Shastri (south Delhi), Archana Dalmia (New Delhi), Mangat Ram Singhal (Chandni Chowk), Devender Yadav (West Delhi), Rajesh Lilothia (northwest Delhi), and Mateen Ahmed (northeast Delhi).
Khera was political secretary of Sheila Dikshit during her chief ministership. Shastri, a former MLA from Mehrauli, was Delhi Assembly speaker. Dalmia is a close aide of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Singhal, who represented Adarsh Nagar in the Assembly, was a minister in Delhi Cabinet. Yadav was elected as MLA from Badli seat. Lilothia, a former MLA from Patel Nagar, is working president of Delhi Congress. Ahmed, a former chairman of the Delhi Wakf Board, won election from Seelampur seat five times.
The screening committee selected the names at a meeting on Tuesday afternoon at Dikshit’s residence in which AICC in-charge of Delhi PC Chacko and co-in charge Kuljit Singh Nagra were present. The meeting continued for about two hours.
After the meeting, Chacko said the ‘process’ is still on and preliminary discussion on a tie-up with the AAP is also going on. “The Congress president is to take the decision.”
Before the meeting with Chacko, Khera reached Dikshit’s residence. A Delhi Congress leader said Dikshit held a meeting with Khera. “What discussion Dikshit and Khera had is not known as no leader was present in the room.”
After her Tuesday morning meeting with Rahul, Dikshit met working presidents Haroon Yusuf and Rajesh Lilothia, Shastri, Singhal and Ramakant Goswami.
Delhi Congress spokesperson Jitender Kochar and former DUSU president Ragini Nayak were also present at Dikshit’s residence during the meeting.
“The leadership had an elaborate discussion on each name before reaching consensus. In a day or two, the party may clear its stand on the alliance,” the Congress leader said.
Earlier, Dikshit met Rahul on Tuesday in which, according to a senior Delhi Congress functionary, in the meeting, Dikshit once again strongly defended her decision to go alone in the general elections.
Dikshit stands her ground
Earlier, Dikshit met Rahul on Tuesday morning where she again reiterated her opposition to a coalition with the AAP. Chacko also attended the meeting, which lasted for around 20 minutes. This was Dikshit’s third meeting with Gandhi on alliance in last four weeks