Upset with his name being dropped from the final list of candidates announced by the Congress on Monday, five-time MLA and a Dalit leader, Raj Kumar Chauhan, said the party has “conceded defeat” in the North West Delhi seat even before the polls the city began.
Chauhan, a former minister in Sheila Dikshit’s cabinet, said he was surprised that his name was dropped at the last moment after being initially approved by the Congress’s chief election committee (CEC).
In the final list of the seven candidates announced by the Congress on Monday, Rajesh Lilothia was chosen as the party’s candidate from North West Delhi.
“I am a Congressman and respect the party’s decision. But it is unfortunate that the party high command has picked another candidate, who is not even a resident of the area and does not have any connect with the workers there. It will certainly hamper the party’s chances on the seat,” said Chauhan, five-time legislator from Mangolpuri.
Countering the outsider charge, Lilothia, state Congress’ working president and two-time MLA from Patel Nagar and Baljeet Nagar, said he is not an “outsider” in North West Delhi and that the “originally belongs to the area”.
{{/usCountry}}Countering the outsider charge, Lilothia, state Congress’ working president and two-time MLA from Patel Nagar and Baljeet Nagar, said he is not an “outsider” in North West Delhi and that the “originally belongs to the area”.
{{/usCountry}}“I belong to Nilothi village in North West Delhi’s Nangloi. I had been working in this constituency for the last two years and have a team of large number of supporters with me,” said Lilothia.
Chauhan’s candidature was finalised from North West Delhi, a reserved constituency, in the first list of four candidates, party leaders had earlier said. With 23,71,636 registered voters, North West Delhi is the largest constituency among the seven parliamentary seats in the national capital in terms of electors.
“The party has declared its defeat on the very first day it started with the poll process. I had started holding meetings in assembly segments after party leaders told me to start campaign work ,” said Chauhan, who has won four consecutive assembly elections between 1993 and 2008.
He was defeated twice in the 2013 and 2015 assembly elections by AAP’s Rakhi Birla.
Chauhan’s supporters had gathered outside Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s residence on Sunday to express their anguish over the party’s denial of a ticket to him.
Senior party leaders said Chauhan was not “replaced” and considerations on names were part of the process before the final list of candidates is decided.
“Every candidate that we have selected has a connection with the constituency from where they have been fielded. Some names were considered and the most winnable was finally fielded. That is how the selection process works,” said a senior party leader privy to the screening process.