The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday released its second list of 20 candidates for the Delhi assembly elections slated earlier next year, dropping 13 incumbent MLAs and shifting constituencies of two senior party leaders Manish Sisodia and Rakhi Bidlan.
Former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has been moved to Jangpura assembly constituency and the party has fielded renowned educationist Awadh Ojha, who recently joined AAP from Patparganj constituency, which has been represented by Sisodia thrice.
Similarly, Rakhi Bidlan who won from Mangolpuri constituency thrice has been fielded from Madipur constituency replacing incumbent AAP MLA Girish Soni.
The other names in the list include Dinesh Bhardwaj from Narela, Surender Pal Singh Bittu from Timarpur, Mukesh Goel from Adarsh Nagar, Rakesh Jatav from Mangolpuri and Pradeep Mittal from Rohini.
Additionally, Punardeep Singh Sawhney (Saby) from Chandni Chowk, Parvesh Ratan from Patel nagar, Rakhi Bidlan from Madipur, Pravin Kumar from Janakpuri, Surendar Bharadwaj from Bijwasan, and Joginder Solanki from Palam.
Three BJP turncoats, who recently switched over to the AAP, have also been fielded in the second list. Surendra Pal Bittu has been made nominee from Timarpur, Pravesh Ratan from Patel Nagar and Jitendra Singh Shunty from Shahdara constituencies.
Moreover, the party has announced Vikas Bagga from Krishna Nagar who has replaced his father S K Bagga and Punardeep Singh Sawhney (Saby) from Chandni Chowk in place of his father and AAP MLA Parlad Singh Sawhney.
Delhi assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel, who announced his retirement from electoral politics recently has been replaced by Jitendra Shunty while Surender Bittu has replaced Timarpur Dilip Pandey who recently hinted at not contesting elections.
The party has dropped Narela MLA Sharad Chauhan, Timarpur MLA Dilip Pandey, Adarsh Nagar MLA Pawan Kumar Sharma, Mundka MLA Dharampal Lakra, Chandni Chowk MLA Parlad Shawney, Janakpuri MLA Rajesh Rishi, Bijwasan MLA Bhupender Singh Joon, Palam MLA Bhawna Gaur, Jangpura MLA Praveen Kumar, Deoli MLA Prakash Jarwal, Trilokpuri MLA Rohit Kumar Mehrauilia, Krishna Nagar MLA SK Bagga, Shahdara MLA Ram Niwas Goel, Mustafabad MLA Adil Ahmad Khan.
After the announcement of the second list Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia wrote on X, “My heartfelt gratitude to Arvind Kejriwal ji and AAP, who showed faith in me and gave me the responsibility of contesting elections from Jangpura. I consider myself a teacher, not a politician. Patparganj was not just an assembly constituency for me, but the heart of the education revolution in Delhi”.
“When Avadh Ojha ji joined the party and there was a demand to field him in the elections, all I could think was that there could be no better seat than Patparganj for a teacher. I am happy to hand over the responsibility of Patparganj to another teacher. Now I am ready to work with everyone in Jangpura to do the same work that I did in Patparganj for education, service and development,” the post mentioned.
Awadh Ojha who replaced Sisodia wrote on X, “I express my gratitude to the National Convener of Aam Aadmi Party, Arvind Kejriwal ji, who trusted a common teacher like me and gave me an opportunity. Sisodia ji’s education resolution will continue from Patparganj Brother Manish Sisodia has made an incomparable contribution to education. I am ready to sacrifice everything to take his educational journey forward”.
Earlier on November 21, AAP had released its first list of 11 candidates. The list featured names of some incumbent MLAs while several fresh faces.
The list included Brahm Singh Tanwar from Chhatarpur, Ram Singh from Badarpur, B B Tyagi from Laxmi Nagar, Chaudhry Zubair Ahmad from Seelampur, Veer Singh Dhingan from SeemaPuri, and Sarita Singh from Rohtas Nagar.
Moreover the party has chosen Gaurav Sharma from Ghonda, Deepak Singhla from Vishwas Nagar, Manoj Tyagi in Karawal Nagar, Anil Jha in Kirari and Sumesh Shokeen for Matiala constituencies.