The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday released its third list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections taking the total number of seats it will contest to 70. The new list has in it former diplomats, IPS officers, JNU professors, actors and activists.
The party announced one candidate each from Bihar and Chandigarh, two from Delhi and Kerala and seven each from Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. Savita Bhatti, wife of late comedian and social commentator Jaspal Bhatti, will contest from Chandigarh against former union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal while Prabhat Ranjan Das, a medico who quit his job in the US, will contest from Darbhanga, a seat currently held by former cricketer and BJP MP Kirti Azad.
In Kerala, noted Malayali writer and social activist Sarah Joseph will contest from Thrissur, a seat held by Joint Parliamentary Committee Chairman P C Chako and in Thiruvananthapuram, the party has fielded former IPS officer Ajit Joy who has worked with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. The seat is currently represented by Union Minister Shashi Tharoor. The two candidates from Delhi include Anand Kumar, a professor from JNU from northeast Delhi and social activist Mahender Singh, who will contest from northwest Delhi, a seat currently represented by the Minister of State for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath. The party has fielded social activist Shailendra Singh Kushwaha from Madhya Pradesh’s Guna district, a seat represented by Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia while in Bhopal, the party gave ticket to Rachna Dheengra, who has been working for the 1984-Bhopal gas tragedy victims.
In Odisha, human rights activist and lawyer Bikash Das will contest from Cuttak while Nirada Barana Khuntia, a former history lecturer, will enter the electoral fray from the holy city of Puri. The party also launched its three-day road show in Uttar Pradesh with AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal attacking the BJP over corruption and price rise.