AAP releases first list for assembly election

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday released its first list of 11 candidates for the Delhi assembly elections, which are scheduled to be held in February next year, naming six candidates who switched to the party from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress and dropping three sitting legislators.

- Alok KN Mishra

The list includes former BJP leaders Anil Jha (fielded from Kirari constituency), BB Tyagi (Laxmi Nagar), and Brahm Singh Tanwar (Chhatarpur), and former Congress leaders Chaudhry Zubair Ahmad (Seelampur), Somesh Shokeen (Matiala) and Vir Singh Dhingan (Seemapuri).

The other five nominees are Ram Singh Netaji (Badarpur), Sarita Singh (Rohtas Nagar), Gaurav Sharma (Ghonda), Deepak Singhla (Vishwas Nagar), and Manoj Tyagi (Karawal Nagar).

AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai released the names after a meeting of the party's political affairs committee (PAC) at former chief minister and party chief Arvind Kejriwal's house.

This makes the AAP the first off the block to announce candidates for the polls, the dates for which are still to be announced.

"The candidates for these seats were announced in the first list to give a push to the ongoing election campaign in these seats," said Rai.

The current term of Delhi assembly ends on February 23, 2025.

The AAP won 62 seats in the 70-member Delhi assembly in the February 2020 assembly elections, and the BJP won the other eight.