Delhi goes to the polls on February 8 and the contest largely will be a triangular one among the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress. While none of the parties have so far announced their candidate lists, all of them are likely to field new faces along with the heavyweights, senior functionaries of all three parties said.
Here are some:
Aam Aadmi Party
Arvind Kejriwal: The Chief Minister of Delhi is likely to contest from the New Delhi seat, which happens to be the AAP national convener’s current constituency.
Manish Sisodia: The Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi is believed to be one of the high scorers in the party’s internal survey on performances of MLAs. The AAP leader is credited for his work in Delhi’s education sector. He is likely to contest from his present constituency Patparganj.
Atishi: She is an Oxford graduate and known for working closely with Sisodia on improving Delhi’s education sector. Atishi is likely to be a new face representing the AAP either from Jungpura or the Kalkaji seat.
Raghav Chadha: He is a chartered accountant by profession and the AAP’s Lok Sabha candidate from South Delhi. Chadha is a prominent face for TV debates and an articulate orator. He is a national spokesperson of the party and likely to get a ticket in this assembly polls.
Saurabh Bharadwaj: The AAP’s MLA from Greater Kailash and national spokesperson of the party. Bharadwaj, senior functionaries said, is another high performers among all current MLAs of the party and he is most likely to be fielded again.
{{/usCountry}}Saurabh Bharadwaj: The AAP’s MLA from Greater Kailash and national spokesperson of the party. Bharadwaj, senior functionaries said, is another high performers among all current MLAs of the party and he is most likely to be fielded again.
{{/usCountry}}Bharatiya Janata Party
Vijender Gupta: Delhi’s present Leader of Opposition is a heavyweight of the BJP. Gupta is likely to contest from the Rohini seat. The party is yet to choose a face as its chief ministerial candidate though. Those in the race include Lok Sabha MPs Manoj Tiwari and Parvesh Verma, and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Goel. But it is not certain if they will contest the election at all.
M Sirsa: A leader of the Akali Dal who won the Rajouri Garder by-election to become an MP with a BJP ticket is likely to be fielded again by the BJP.
O P Sharma: Sharma is currently the MLA from Vishwas Nagar. He too will most likely be fielded again by the BJP.
Kapil Mishra: Mishra is the rebel AAP leader who later joined the BJP. He is currently one of the BJP leaders on the forefront of the pro-CAA campaign in Delhi. The BJP has made him a member of its manifesto committee and he is likely to he given a ticket.
Congress
Alka Lamba: A student union leader with the Congress who went on to join the India Against Corruption Movement and eventually the AAP. The Chandni Chowk MLA too turned out to be a rebel, citing differences with Kejriwal and the top brass of the party which she often called “undemocratic”. She went back to the Congress last year and she is likely to be one of the party’s candidates, senior Congress leaders said. The party, however, has planned to announce no CM face like their strategy in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.
Mateen Ahmed: This five-time MLA from Seelampur is a known personality in the North East Delhi parliamentary constituency, primarily because of his local connect. He is likely to get a Congress ticket. He had won the 2013 assembly elections from the constituency, but lost to the Kejriwal wave in 2015.
Asif Muhammad Khan: A strong potential candidate for the Congress is this former MLA from Okhla. Khan’s recent support for the protests against CAA, NRC and NPR might help him rebuild his image in his constituency.
With inputs from Abhishek Dey, Soumya Pillai, Ashish Mishra