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Delhi polls: AAP may switch MLA Shoaib Iqbal for his son in Matia Mahal seat
The Matia Mahal seat has long been a stronghold of the Iqbal family.
2 min read
Shoaib Iqbal has won the seat six times, beginning in 1993 (Express Archives)The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may switch its candidate for the Matia Mahal seat for the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls. Instead of veteran leader and sitting MLA Shoaib Iqbal, his son, Aaley Mohammad Iqbal, is likely to contest from the constituency.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Aaley Iqbal said, “The election survey was conducted for my father and me, and we received favourable public reviews. My father has served as an MLA from the seat six times and now wants to step into national politics. He discussed this with (AAP chief) Arvind Kejriwal ji yesterday, and Kejriwal ji was also in favor of the change in candidature.”
When contacted, the party refused to comment.
The Matia Mahal seat has long been a stronghold of the Iqbal family. Shoaib Iqbal has won the seat six times, beginning in 1993. In 2013, he secured the seat with a margin of around 3,000 votes. However, in 2015, he was defeated by AAP’s former minister Asim Ahmed Khan, who is now set to contest on a Congress ticket from the same seat.
Shoaib Iqbal reclaimed the seat in 2020 with a margin of over 50,000 votes.
Aaley Iqbal began his political career at a young age. In 2012, at just 21 years old, he became the youngest councillor after winning the MCD elections from Turkman Gate as a candidate for the Rashtriya Lok Dal, with a margin of over 3,000 votes. He was re-elected in 2017 from the Delhi Gate ward with a similar margin and again in 2022 from the Matia Mahal MCD ward. Till recently, Aaley Iqbal served as the MCD Deputy Mayor.
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