The stage is all set for Delhi Assembly elections which will be held on February 8. While the Aam Aadmi Party was the first to announce its candidates for all 70 assembly segments in one go on January 14, the BJP only released details of its final list early on Tuesday as it announced 10 more candidates.
The AAP had stunned political heavyweights in the 2015 polls, bagging 67 of the 70 seats, leaving just three for the saffron party, while the Congress had drawn a blank. However, in the 2019 parliamentary polls, the BJP led the show, sweeping all seven seats.
BJP leaders have high hopes in the upcoming Delhi polls as the party got more votes than the Congress and the AAP in 65 of the 70 Assembly segments in last year’s Lok Sabha election. The AAP had registered its massive victory in the 2015 Delhi Assembly polls thanks to the strong support of the residents of slums and unauthorised colonies.
Here are top 10 candidates to watch out for in Delhi Assembly elections 2020:
Arvind Kejriwal:
Arvind Kejriwal is a former bureaucrat and current Delhi Chief Minister. Kejriwal is also the national convener of the Aam Aadmi Party, which won the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections with a historic majority, obtaining 67 out of 70 assembly seats. Before joining politics, Kejriwal had worked in the Indian Revenue Service as a Joint Commissioner of Income Tax in New Delhi.
Tajinder Bagga:
BJP has fielded Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga to contest from Hari Nagar constituency. BJP has fielded Bagga against Aam Aadmi Party’s Princess Dhillon. Tajinder is the spokesperson of the BJP’s Delhi unit. After being named as the Hari Nagar candidate, Bagga came back with a rap song ‘Bagga, Bagga Har Jagah’ on Twitter.
Arvinder Singh Lovely:
Arvinder Singh Lovely is former President of the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee and was elected in 1998 to become youngest MLA in Delhi Legislative Assembly. He was again elected in 2003, 2008 & 2013. He has also been the Minister for Urban Development & Revenue, Education, Transport, Tourism, Languages, Gurudwara Election, Local Bodies & Gurudwara Administration during the Sheila Dikshit government.
Alka Lamba:
Alka Lamba was part of Congress for more than 20 years, she quit to join the Aam Aadmi Party on 26 December 2014. But the former AAP leader rejoined Congress last year. In February 2015, Lamba was elected to the Delhi Legislative Assembly from Chandni Chowk. She was however disqualified from the Delhi assembly by Delhi speaker for violating the rules for party change over. Lamba began her career as a student leader.
Manish Sisodia:
Sisodia, also the Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister, is contesting from the Patparganj assembly constituency for the third time after winning the seat in 2013 and 2015. He also holds the Education, Finance, Planning, Tourism, Land & Building, Services, Women & Child, Art, Culture & Languages portfolios in the Government of NCT of Delhi. Prior to being elected as MLA, Sisodia was a social activist and journalist.
Raghav Chadha:
Raghav Chadha will be contesting the elections from the Rajinder Nagar. Chadha is the national treasurer and a national spokesperson of the Aam Aadmi Party. He is one of the youngest people to get a license to practice as a charted accountant (CA) at the age of 22. He was one of the few people that helped Kejriwal draft the Delhi Lokpal Bill in 2013.
Sunil Yadav:
The BJP released the second list of candidates for the Delhi Assembly polls, fielding state Yuva Morcha President Sunil Yadav from the New Delhi constituency against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Yadav is a young face, who is the state President of the Delhi unit of the BJP’s Yuva Morcha — Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. Yadav is also a social worker and an advocate by profession. He started his political career as the ‘Mandal president’ of Yuva Morcha. He then went on to become the district President, Delhi General Secretary and Delhi Secretary of the Yuva Morcha.
Kapil Mishra:
Rebel AAP leader Kapil Mishra, has been fielded from Model Town seat by the BJP. Mishra will take on AAP’s sitting MLA Akhilesh Mani Tripathi.
Poonam Azad:
Poonam Azad, wife of Kirti Azad, will contest from Sangam Vihar on Congress ticket. Her father-in-law, Bhagwat Jha Azad, had been the Congress’ Chief Minister in Bihar. Poonam Azad, who had joined the AAP in November 2016, had been a member of the BJP earlier and even contested the Delhi Assembly elections on its ticket. Kirti Azad had been suspended by the BJP in 2015 after he made allegations of corruption in the Delhi and District Cricket Association, which was headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley till 2013.
Atishi Marlena:
Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi Marlena will contest elections from Kalkaji constituency. She served as Advisor to the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia. Atishi is also a member of the Political Affairs Committee of Aam Aadmi Party.