Delhi Assembly polls: AAP makes delicate balance in candidate list

While more women and Purvanchali candidates have been fielded by the ruling party, five Muslims and three Sikhs are in the poll fray with no minister being dropped.
AAP leader Dilip Pandey (File Photo | Parveen Negi, EPS)
AAP leader Dilip Pandey (File Photo | Parveen Negi, EPS)

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party struck a delicate balance as it increased the number of women and Purvanchali candidates while dropping 15 MLAs from its list declared on Tuesday. Though there are only eight women candidates of the total 70, it is up by two than the previous AAP nominations in 2015.

Rakh Bidlan (Mangolpuri), Bandan Kumari (Shamlimar Bagh), Atishi (Kalkaji), Parmila Tokas (RK Puram), Dhanwanti Chandela (Rajouri Garden), Rajkumari Dhillon (Hari Nagar), Bhawani Gaur (Palam) and Sarita Singh (Rohtas Nagar) are the AAP women candidates this year.

Similarly, Purvanchali candidates have gone up slightly from 11 to 12 in the AAP list for the election scheduled on February 8. There are five Muslims and three Sikhs in the list. Though Amantullah Khan, a heavyweight minister, was repeated, Haji Ishraque from Seelampur and Asim Ahmed Khan from Matia Mahal were dropped.

In Ishraque’s place, AAP nominated Abdul Rehman. A sitting councilor, Rehman is named in the FIR of anti-CAA violence happened in Seelampur. Ishraque stole the limelight when his picture surfaced in media with BJP MP and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari.  

In 2015, Khan was sacked by CM Arvind Kejriwal over allegations of graft and Imran Hussain from Ballimaran was inducted in his place. Abdur Rehman’s name in the list has raised some eyebrows as he is named in the FIR of the anti-CAA violence happened in Seelampur on December 17.

Presently, he is an AAP councillor from Jaffrabad. In FIR, he was named as one of the instigators who led the protesters.

While five members who left the party fold have been replaced by fresh faces, the party has also dug into its kitty of municipal councilor in Delhi civic bodies for the polls.  Similarly, Atishi, Raghav Chadha and Dilip Pandey are among the non-MLAs fielded for the poll battle in the national capital.

Another feature of the ruling party’s list is the candidature of nine turncoats —  Shoaib Iqbal (Matia Mahal), Ram Singh Netaji (Badarpur), Vinay Kumar Mishra ( Dwarka), Prahlad Singh Sawhney ( Chandni Chowk), Dhanwanti Chandila (Rajouri Garden), Chaudhary Surendra Kumar ( Gokalpur), Rajkumari Dhillon (Hari Nagar), Naveen Chaudhary Deepu (Gandhi Nagar), and Jai Bhagwan Upkar (Bawana).

No minister dropped

Led by CM & Deputy CM, Satyendra Jain, Gopal Rai, Imran Hussain, Kailash Gahlot and Rajendra Gautam will fight the poll.

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