AAP may field Durgesh Pathak from Rajinder Nagar for bypoll

Voting for the Rajinder Nagar seat is scheduled to take place on June 23 and the last date for filing nomination is June 6. The nomination papers will be scrutinised on June 7 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is June 9. The votes will be counted on June 26.

With less than a month left for the Rajinder Nagar by-election, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to field its MCD in-charge Durgesh Pathak from the seat which was vacated by Raghav Chadha, who resigned following his elevation to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab after the party’s landslide win in the state.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Durgesh Pathak. (PTI)

At least two senior AAP leaders, on the condition of anonymity, said the party will make a formal announcement “in the next few days”. Pathak did not respond to call or messages seeking a comment.

Voting for the Rajinder Nagar seat is scheduled to take place on June 23 and the last date for filing nomination is June 6. The nomination papers will be scrutinised on June 7 and the last date of withdrawal of candidature is June 9. The votes will be counted on June 26.

The bye-election is important for the party as it is being viewed as a referendum for the AAP government’s performance in the state.

Pathak, who was appointed election in-charge of Rajinder Nagar assembly constituency nearly two weeks ago, has been active in the constituency soon after Chadha’s resignation. AAP launched poll activities in the first week of May, exhorting party workers to connect with the residents of the constituency and inform them about the work the AAP government has done for Delhi and the constituency.

AAP has won the Rajinder Nagar seat in the last two elections. In 2020 Delhi assembly elections, Chadha won the seat by a margin of 20,058 votes against his rival RP Singh of the BJP. The Congress had fielded student leader Rocky Tuseed from the seat. In 2015, AAP‘s Vijender Garg won the seat, defeating BJP’s Singh by around 20,000 votes.

BJP, Cong finalising candidates

Senior Delhi BJP leaders said they are in the final stage of selecting a candidate for the seat, which has a mixed demography with over 40% families in the area belonging to the Punjabi community and a sizeable slum population.

A Delhi BJP leader said the process of candidate selection has been fast-tracked and the name of the candidate will be announced in a couple of days. The leader said that Delhi BJP in-charge Baijayant Panda and other leaders also held a meeting on the same recently.

According to another Delhi BJP leader, the probable names include Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta, BJP national secretary (youth) Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, former Rajinder Nagar MLA RP Singh, former Delhi BJP general secretary Rajesh Bhatia and Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana.

Meanwhile, Delhi Congress chief Chaudhary Anil Kumar visited Rajinder Nagar constituency on Friday with other party leaders and met those affected by a recent MCD anti-encroachment drive at Naraina industrial area. The party is raising the issue of “bulldozer politics”, hitting out at both the BJP and the AAP.

A Delhi Congress leader said the party is working out the strategy for the bypoll and the name of the candidate will be finalised soon.