NEW DELHI: Bidding to reclaim lost political ground in the national capital, the Congress packed a punch with its Delhi list on Monday, fielding boxer Vijender Singh from South Delhi, while naming trusted war horses in the remaining six seats to meet the twin challenges posed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
With alliance talks with the AAP failing to yield the desired results, the grand old party decided to go it alone in all seven seats in the Capital. With its task cut out, the Congress has seemingly deemed it wise to veer to its trusted hands instead of springing surprises.The list of six candidates released on Monday includes, four MPs, three of whom — Sheila Dikshit, Ajay Maken, and Jai Prakash Agarwal — had also served as president of Delhi Congress Pradesh Committee (DPCC). The list also features a former Delhi minister and a former MLA.
Spoiling for a fight even at 81, three-time CM Dikshit has set herself the onerous task of giving sitting BJP MP Manoj Tiwari and AAP’s Dilip Pandey a run for their money in the Northeast Delhi constituency.
In an illustrious political journey that has seen both highs and lows, Dikshit took the Congress to three consecutive Assembly poll victories in the national capital in 1998, 2003 and 2008, while her bid to win the East Delhi seat in 1998 ended in defeat.
Before cutting her teeth into Delhi politics, she had been an MP from Kannauj parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh and even served as a union minister from 1986 to 1989.Ajay Maken, the Congress candidate from New Delhi, was also a Union minister. Maken was elected to the Delhi assembly from Rajouri Garden in 1993. He was later elected an MP from the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat.Haroon Yusuf, working president of Delhi Congress, said that it was a deliberate attempt by the party to bring experienced leaders to the electoral forefront.