AAP shortlists 10 names for five LS seats in Delhi

Getting a head start over its opponents in the coming general elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday announced the names of 10 probable candidates for five of the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Delhi.

Getting a head start over its opponents in the coming general elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday announced the names of 10 probable candidates for five of the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Delhi.

The list of probable candidates - cleared at the party’s national executive meeting - includes one each from North East Delhi, New Delhi and East Delhi. There are two names from West Delhi and three from South Delhi.

Of the 5,000-odd applications received from across India, the party’s Delhi unit saw almost 1,000 people in the fray for just seven seats.

"One-third of them are those who have been associated with the India Against Corruption agitation since 2011, and another one-third are professionals such as chartered accountants, lawyers and even bankers. And the third category consists of the proverbial turncoats who have come to AAP from various parties to try their luck," said a party source.

Except for Ramesh Bhutani (New Delhi) who was born in 1956, Tilak Ram Kem (East Delhi) who was born in 1947 and Dev Das Goswami (West Delhi) who was born in 1962, the other shortlisted persons are all below 45 years of age.

The other candidates include Deo Kumar from North East Delhi; Irvinder Singh from West Delhi; Mamta Sharma, Niranjan Koli and Pradeep Kumar from South Delhi; Mohammad Mursaleen and Mohit Beniwal from Chandni Chowk.

The party is following the pattern adopted for the Delhi assembly election for the Lok Sabha polls as well.

The list of probable candidates has been put up on the party’s website and it has asked Delhiites to send feedback. Although the AAP had originally declared a January 15-20 deadline for releasing its first list of final candidates, it has not been able to do so due to the sheer volume of applications.