Delhi Assembly polls: AAP replaces Naresh Yadav from Mehrauli

Earlier in the day, Yadav said in a post on X that he met AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal to inform him about his decision not to contest the polls till he is acquitted by the court in the case against him.

“Today, after meeting Arvindji, I told him that till the court clears my case, I will not be able to do anything for the party. I will not contest elections until I am honorably acquitted. I am completely innocent and the allegations leveled against me are politically motivated and false. That is why I have requested them to free me from contesting elections,” he added.

In 2012, Chaudhary had contested the municipal corporation polls but lost. In 2020, he had contested the Assembly polls on a Congress ticket from Mehrauli and bagged the third spot with 6.04% vote share.

Taking on Kejriwal, Delhi BJP chief Virender Sachdeva said, “Kejriwal did not change his party’s candidate from Mehrauli due to the sacrilege case, but because… of the new candidate’s financial power. Naresh Yadav was sentenced on November 30, 2024… Despite this, Arvind Kejriwal had given him a ticket to contest elections from Mehrauli for the third time last week.”

He claimed that Kejriwal might change 13 more candidates. “There is common talk in Delhi’s media that Arvind Kejriwal might change the tickets of some of the 13 MLAs he has given tickets to for the fourth time… He is just waiting for an offer with good financial backing.”

On June 24, 2016, torn pages of the Quran were found scattered on a road in Malerkotla in Punjab. This led to violence and burning of vehicles by an angry mob. Four persons, including Yadav, were arrested in the case.