Educator Avadh Ojha, who joined the Arvind Kejriwal-led party recently, will contest from Patparganj, held by Sisodia since 2013. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) released its second list of candidates for the upcoming Delhi assembly polls on Monday, and, in a big move, shifted the party’s number two, Manish Sisodia, to the Jangpura seat from his current Patparganj constituency.
Educator Avadh Ojha, who joined the Arvind Kejriwal-led party recently, is the AAP candidate from Patparganj, held by Sisodia since 2013. Sisodia, Delhi’s former deputy chief minister, registered emphatic wins in 2013 and 2015, but could only eke out a narrow victory in 2020.
Meanwhile, a second big AAP name on the list is Rakhi Bidlan, the deputy speaker in the Delhi assembly. She will contest from Madipur instead of her current Mangolpuri seat, which has gone to Rakesh Jatav Dharamrakshak.
Other names in the fresh list are: Dinesh Bhardwaj from Narela, Surender Pal Singh Bittu (Timarpur), Mukesh Goel (Adarsh Nagar), Jasbir Karala (Mundka), Pradeep Mittal (Rohini), Purandeep Singh Sawhney (Chandni Chowk), Parvesh Ratan (Patel Nagar), Pravin Kumar (Janakpuri), Surender Bharadwaj (Bijaswan), Joginder Solanki (Palam), Prem Kumar Chauhan (Deoli), Anjana Parcha (Trilokpuri), Vikas Bagga (Krishna Nagar), Naveen Choudhary (Gandhi Nagar), Jitender Singh Shunty (Shahdara), and Adil Ahmad Khan (Mustafabad).
Both Jitender Singh Shunty and Parvesh Ratan are new AAP inductees and switched from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the capital’s main opposition party with eight seats in the assembly (the remaining 62 are with the AAP).
Delhi assembly polls are likely to be held in February. The AAP has been in power here since December 2013, except for a 12-month period (February 2014 to February 2015) when the Union territory was under President’s rule after AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal resigned as chief minister.
