NEW DELHI, November 6: The Congress Chief Ministerial candidate for the forthcoming Assembly elections Sheila Dikshit will contest from the Gole Market constituency against former cricketer Kirti Azad of the BJP. The list which was finalised in the early hours this morning, is a clear indication that Delhi leaders dominated the selection process. But candidates favoured by Arjun Singh, Tariq Anwar, Madhavrao Scindia and Rajesh Pilot also found places on the list. A fairly comprehensive list, it has 33 first-timers and represents all sections of the society. The list also contains 10 women candidates, six Sikh candidates, six Muslim candidates, 10 candidates from the Other Backward Castes (OBC).With an eye on the demographic profile of the city, professionals including three doctors, three University teachers, four advocates, one journalist and five traders have also been allotted tickets. Two sitting MLAs - Jai Kishan and Matin Ahmed - have been dropped because of criminal cases pending against them. However, Jai Kishan's seat that of Sultanpur Majra has been given to his wife Sushila Devi. Matin's Seelampur constituency will now be represented by Salaudeen Pehalwan.The grand old man of Delhi politics, Jag Parvesh Chandra's name also does not figure in the list following his announcement sometime ago to retire from active politics. His traditional Jangpura constituency has been given to Talvinder Singh Marwa.Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president Sheila Dikshit had a major say in selecting candidates. Her candidates include Ram Ratan Gupta from Kasturba Nagar, Dr Narendra Nath from Shahdara, Radhe Shyam Khanna from Rohtas Nagar, Zile Singh from Karawal Nagar, Charan Singh Kandera from Narela, Prahlad Sahni from Chandini Chowk, Mangat Ram Singh from Adarsh Nagar, Ramakant Goswami from Patel Nagar, Meera Bhardawaj from Mandawali and Arvinder Singh Lovely from Gandhi Nagar.Former MP Sajjan Kumar also managed to get tickets for most of his supporters. His brother, Ramesh Kumar, has been given the ticket from Sahibabad Daulatpur. His other supporters who find a place in the list are Mukesh Sharma from Hastasal, Kanwal Singh Yadav from Najafgarh, Mahinder Singh Yadav from Palam, Ram Kumar Chauhan from Mongolpuri and Susheela Devi from Sultanpur Majra. The candidates favoured by 10, Janpath are Mukesh Bhatt from Sarojini Nagar, Dr S.C. Vats from Shakur Basti and Ashok Singh from R.K. Puram.Three of Congress heavyweight Arjun Singh's candidates have also been given tickets. They are Chattar Singh from Trinagar, Jaspal Singh from Tilak Nagar and Zile Singh Chavan from Bhuleswa Jahangirpuri. Former Cong puts out list, MP Jagdish Tytler influenced the selection process in his former Sadar Parliamentary constituency. His candidates, included in the list, are Kiran Choudhary from Delhi Cantonment, Kanwar Karan Singh from Model Town, Kamaljeet Singh Namdhari from Moti Nagar and Rajesh Jain from Sadar Bazar.R.K. Dhawan also managed to secure a berth for his candidate Talwinder Singh Marwah from Jangpura and Rajesh Pilot got the Kamla Nagar seat for his candidate Shadi Ram.P.C. Kaushik, considered to be close to Madhavrao Scindia, has been given the ticket from Nangloi.No candidate of H.K.L. Bhagat, not even his son Deepak Bhagat have been given a ticket. Former MP J.P. Aggarwal also managed to get a ticket for one of his candidates Aziz Ahmed Siddiqui from Matia Mahal. The party's lone sitting MP, Meira Kumar's candidate, Ram Ashish, has been allocated a ticket from the Rajinder Nagar constituency. Two candidates of Tariq Anwar - Abdul Ahmed from Babarpur and Naseeb Singh from Vishwas Nagar - have also been accommodated in the list.
