Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit filed her nomination papers before the returning officer at Jamnagar house, here on Thursday. “The Congress party will win, I am confident,” she said. A large number of party workers gathered in the area to show their solidarity towards the leader.
Dikshit’s son and Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit and daughter, Latika, accompanied her. Dikshit will contest the elections from the New Delhi constituency, where she has been successful in the elections for three consecutive terms.
AAP founder Arvind Kejriwal and former BJP Delhi unit chief Vijendra Gupta are also contesting from the New Delhi constituency.
When asked about the criticisms that she faced from the opposition regarding corruption in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Dikshit said, “Where is corruption? Who has gone to jail? The Congress party-led government has replied to observations made in the CAG and Shunglu committee reports.”
The Delhi CM said that the state government deserved credit for improving the infrastructure and social and all-round development, but admitted that there still is scope for improvement.
In a riposte to the Opposition’s comment that it was time she retired from politics, she said, “It has no relation with age, I will work for the people as long as I can and when I feel I need to step back, I will do so.”
Dikshit went on to say that she’d rather not talk about the opposition. When asked if she was disappointed that not many woman candidates have been given tickets, Dikshit said, “Winnability is a major deciding factor, though I feel bad about it.”
Vardhan files nomination
BJP chief ministerial candidate Harshvardhan filed his nomination papers on Thursday. He will contest the elections from Krishna Nagar constituency. Former BJP leader V K Monga will contest elections against Vardhan on a Congress ticket. Monga recently resigned from BJP after a fallout with Vardhan.
Vardhan filed his nomination papers before the returning officer at Geeta Colony in East Delhi in the presence of scores of party workers. BJP Delhi unit president Vijay Goel and senior BJP leader V K Malhotra accompanied him.
After filing nomination papers, Vardhan remarked that the Delhi Assembly polls are a contest between the Congress and the BJP, and that AAP was not a serious player.