AAP fields Delhi MLAs from LS seats, no repeat of 2019 names: Ex-minister to Sisodia aide to Gujjar face

Barring ex-MP Mahabal, the other three candidates are the AAP’s sitting Delhi MLAs. The party has not repeated a single candidate that it fielded in these seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when the BJP had swept all seven seats in the national capital for the second consecutive time.

Here is a look at the AAP’s Delhi candidates for the upcoming polls.

Somnath Bharti

Somnath Bharti, 49, has been associated with the AAP since its inception. He has been winning from the Malviya Nagar Assembly constituency for the last three consecutive terms. In the 2020 Assembly elections, he defeated the BJP and Congress candidates by a huge margin, garnering 57.97% votes.

Bharti is currently the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), who is considered popular in his constituency. He is known for promptly addressing public grievances, running dedicated WhatsApp groups for the purpose.

A lawyer, Bharti is an IIT graduate. In the first Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government, which lasted for 49 days between December 2013 and February 2014, he served as a minister handling the portfolios of Law, Tourism, Administrative Reforms, Art and Culture.

In the 2019 polls, the AAP had nominated Brijesh Goyal from the New Delhi seat against the BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi, who won by four lakh votes.

Kuldeep Kumar

Kuldeep Kumar, 30, is a Dalit leader, who has been on the rise within the AAP. He has been closely associated with senior AAP leader and ex-deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

A DU graduate, Kuldeep is currently the MLA from the Kondli constituency. He also has influence in East Delhi as he has served as the councillor from the Kalyanpuri ward. He was vocal against the BJP as the Leader of Opposition in the East Delhi Municipal Corporation. He is also the AAP’s Delhi unit vice-president.

When Sisodia was arrested by the CBI in the alleged Delhi liquor scam case in February last year, he was among the leaders who protested outside the agency’s headquarters. Earlier, during Sisodia’s questioning by the agency, he used to wait outside its office. He also used to accompany Sisodia during his rallies and campaigns. After his arrest, Kuldeep’s name made the rounds as a possible ministerial candidate.

In the 2019 polls, the AAP had fielded Atishi, currently Education Minister, from East Delhi against the BJP’s Gautam Gambhir, the cricketer-turned-politician, who defeated her.

Mahabal Mishra

Former Congress leader, Mahabal Midhra, 70, is the senior- most among the four AAP nominees. A known face in the rural belt of Delhi, Mishra has been given a ticket from West Delhi.

Before leaving the Congress to join the AAP in November 2022, Mahabal was a former West Delhi MP. He had also been an MLA thrice on the Congress’s ticket. His son Vinay Mishra is currently the AAP MLA from Dwarka.

Sources said the AAP inducted Mahabal on the promise of giving him a Lok Sabha ticket.

In the previous poll the AAP had fielded Balbir Singh Jakar from West Delhi, who was defeated by the BJP’s Parvesh Singh Verma.

Sahi Ram Pehalwan

The AAP’s candidate from South Delhi, Sahi Ram Pehalwan is a Gujjar leader and second-term MLA from Tughlakabad.

One of the senior-most AAP leaders, Sahi Ram Pehalwan had earlier been with the BSP and a two-time councillor.

He had also been the Deputy Mayor of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation.

AAP sources said Sahi Ram has been given the ticket with an eye on the Gujjar community, whose population is sizeable in the South Delhi constituency.

The AAP had fielded Raghav Chaddha, currently its Rajya Sabha MP, from this seat in 2019 against the BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri who clinched the poll.