New Delhi | The AAP on Sunday declared its last candidate in Delhi for the Lok Sabha polls, with a senior leader saying the announcement was made seeing the Congress’s “irresponsible and indecisive” attitude towards an alliance here.
Balbir Singh Jakhar, 45, will be the Aam Aadmi Party’s candidate for the West Delhi parliamentary seat. The names of candidates for the other six seats was announced by the party on March 2.
Elections to the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi will be held on May 12. The results will be declared with the rest of the country on May 23.
Delhi minister and AAP leader Gopal Rai said the party has waited long enough for an alliance with the Congress, but seeing “irresponsible and indecisive” attitude of the grand old party, the AAP has decided to declare the name of its seventh candidate.
He announced the name of Jakhar at a press conference here.
“The AAP has declared all its seven candidates. We waited for long that all parties would join hands to beat the government, but the way the Congress is behaving, irresponsibly and has been indecisive for the past three months, the AAP has decided to take its movement (for full statehood for Delhi) forward,” Rai said.
He said the Congress did generate some excitement among the Muslim community after its victories in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh state polls, but its “attitude” in Delhi has made the community realise that the party is not serious.
“The Congress’ state of confusion has led to disappointment among people. There was some buzz among Muslims after the Congress won in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, but people have realised that the Congress is not serious. The Congress national leadership and its state president are making contradictory claims every other day,” Rai said.
On Thursday, he had said the AAP will fight the Lok Sabha polls on the issue of full statehood and it is “late now” for talks on an alliance in Delhi.
“The country is disappointed with the Congress and our internal survey shows seven per cent vote share of the Congress. People feel that the Congress is not serious about Delhi, so the AAP has launched a mega campaign,” he said.
“The Congress is confused and everyone is giving different statements,” Rai said.
Sources said the AAP was in talks with the Congress over seat sharing, but both the parties wanted to contest from the same seats due to which they could not reach a consensus.
Last Tuesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal asserted his party will win all the seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Delhi “on its own”.
Moreover, Delhi Congress chief Sheila Dikshit has not been in favour of an alliance with the AAP, but many leaders and workers in the Delhi Congress were in favour of an alliance.
Announcing the name of Jakhar, Rai said he has been associated with the AAP since the Jan Lokpal movement. He also holds the post of chairman of the co-ordination committee All Delhi District Court bar Association apart from being a member of bodies such as the Bar Council Of Delhi, Rohini Court Bar Association and the New Delhi Bar Association.
The other six AAP candidates are Atishi from East Delhi, Guggan Singh from North-West Delhi, Raghav Chadha from South, Dilip Pandey from North-East, Pankaj Gupta from Chandni Chowk and Brijesh Goyal will contest from New Delhi.
Taking its movement of full statehood for Delhi forward, Rai said the Aam Aadmi Party members burnt the 2014 BJP manifesto in which they promised full statehood for Delhi if elected.
Rai said they will take their campaign forward by burning the manifesto at 3,000 places on March 24.
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