Congress names 48 candidates

Playing it safe, at least till party president Sonia Gandhi returns from her two-day trip to Bhutan, the Delhi Congress on Tuesday evening finally released the names of candidates for 48 seats for the Delhi Assembly elections.

Playing it safe, at least till party president Sonia Gandhi returns from her two-day trip to Bhutan, the Delhi Congress on Tuesday evening finally released the names of candidates for 48 seats for the Delhi Assembly elections.

While the party had finalised 53 candidates before Diwali, the current list has left out controversial seats like Greater Kailash, Matia Mahal, Rajinder Nagar, Palam and Deoli.

As reported by Newsline on Monday, the AICC election committee, headed by Gandhi, had asked for a reconsideration of candidates who seemed 8220;weak8221; opposite candidates declared by the BJP last Saturday. The decision over BJP strongholds like Mundka, Hari Nagar, Tilak Nagar and Rajinder Nagar is yet to be taken. The party has also left out seats like Narela and Chhatarpur, expected to be BSP strongholds, for the second list.

Candidates for constituencies in East Delhi like Ghonda, Babarpur and Karawal Nagar, with a strong Poorvanchali migrant population, too are yet to be decided. Sheila Dikshit, meanwhile, will now surely be seen out campaigning on the streets along with five of her Cabinet colleagues.

Health Minister Yoganand Shastri will have to wait for now and sources said he could get a ticket from either Mehrauli or Narela. MLA Jile Singh Chauhan from Burari and Congress chief whip Ramakant Goswami from Rajinder Nagar too will have to wait till the next list is out. SC Vats, who reportedly lost his position in the party following his assertions against the privatisation of power in the public accounts committee, and was replaced by Dev Raj for Shakurpur Basti, is now back in the new list as a contestant for the elections.

Dipika Khullar, an independent candidate in the last elections against the Congress, will now be contesting from Krishna Nagar against Delhi BJP chief Harsh Vardhan. With a part of Geeta Colony, A K Walia8217;s current constituency, the Congress is hoping for Khullar8217;s success.

Patparganj will see MCD councillor Anil Chaudhary this time. Chaudhary currently heads the youth wing of the Congress. Candidates who joined from other parties too have been taken care of. Dayanand Chandila, formerly of BJP, will now fight from Rajouri Garden and Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, who left the NCP, has been rewarded with Badarpur.

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The Congress line up
Sheila Dikshit- New Delhi
A K Walia- Laxmi Nagar
Raj Kumar Chauhan- Mangolpuri
Haroon Yusuf- Ballimaran
Mangat Ram Singhal- Adarsh Nagar
Arvinder Singh Lovely- Gandhi Nagar
Chaudhary Prem Singh- Ambedkar Nagar
Kiran Walia- Malviya Nagar
Bijender Singh- Nangloi
Jaikishen- Sultanpur
Malaram Gangwal- Madipur
Mukesh Sharma- Uttam Nagar
Vijay Singh Lochhav- Bijwasan
Balram Tanwar- Chattarpur
Parvez Hashmi- Okhla
Anil Bhardwaj- Tri Nagar
Barkha Singh- RK Puram,
Ram Babu Sharma- Rohtas Nagar
Narendra Nath- Shahdara
Mateen Ahmed- Seelampur
Naseeb Singh- Vishwas Nagar
Ambrish Gautam Kondli
Veer Singh Dhingan- Seemapuri
Prahlad Singh Sawhney- Chandni Chowk
Subhash Chopra- Kalkaji
Kunwar Karan Singh- Model Town
Surinder Pal Singh Bittoo- Timarpur