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AAP names in-charges for final two Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, banks on yet another outsider

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The in-charges will most likely be the AAP’s candidates for the LS polls. East Delhi in-charge Atishi, for instance, has already been declared the candidate.

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party declared its final two constituency in-charges for Delhi’s Lok Sabha seats Sunday.

Brijesh Goyal, head of the party’s trade wing in Delhi, has been put in charge of the New Delhi seat, while Rajpal Solanki, chairperson of the Venkateshwar Hospital in Dwarka, will take responsibility for the West Delhi seat. Solanki is not yet a member of the party.

The other five persons in-charge of Delhi’s Lok Sabha seats are: Atishi (East Delhi), Raghav Chadha (South Delhi), Pankaj Gupta (Chandni Chowk), Dilip Pandey (North-East Delhi) and Guggan Singh Ranga (North-West Delhi).


Also read: Punjab AAP leader HS Phoolka resigns from assembly, likely to quit party too


As first reported by ThePrint, these seat in-charges will likely end up being AAP’s official candidates too; this was confirmed by the party’s Delhi convener and minister in Arvind Kejriwal’s government. Atishi has already been confirmed as the party’s candidate for East Delhi.

“They are our most likely candidates. They will be declared candidates in due course,” Rai said.

Outsider gambit yet again

About Solanki, asked why AAP preferred an outsider, Rai: “He has worked in the social sector and had been a supporter of the party for a long time.”

He also added that these names were decided after a long discussion.

Rai believes Brijesh Goyal will emerge victorious, as he was the “only person standing with the traders of Delhi” in their fight against the sealing drive.

In January this year, AAP nominated rank outsider Sushil Gupta to the Rajya Sabha from Delhi. Two senior leaders of the party, Ashish Khetan and Ashutosh, resigned within the next few months, and while both claimed this was for personal reasons, party sources had told ThePrint that both were feeling cheated by the top leadership.

Poaching Sinhas from the BJP

Rai also said that the party had requested former union minister and BJP leader Yashwant Sinha to contest the polls, but he preferred to campaign countrywide against the policies of the Narendra Modi government.

He said AAP national convener and Delhi CM Kejriwal had made efforts to convince the veteran leader to contest from Delhi on an AAP ticket, but Sinha refused.

Asked about Shatrughan Sinha, the BJP’s Lok Sabha MP from Bihar’s Patna Sahib, who has also been vocal in his criticism of the government, Rai said: “He will also contribute to the party’s effort to contest the Lok Sabha polls.” He remained noncommittal about the former film actor contesting as AAP candidate.


Also read: Sikh radicals at rebel AAP rally sparks fears party is flirting with separatists again


 

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