Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal addresses a press conference in New Delhi on January 9, 2025. | Photo Credit: PTI
Alleged by BJP leaders that he will contest the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections from the second seat because he is afraid of losing New Delhi, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday (January 9, 2025) said that he will contest from one seat only.
Mr. Kejriwal also asserted that the Assembly polls are not a matter for the INDA bloc as there is a direct contest between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi.
A three-time MP from New Delhi since 2013, Mr Kejriwal is this time locked in a tight three-cornered contest against the sons of two former Delhi chief ministers.
While the BJP fielded Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma’s son Parvesh Verma, the Congress gave a ticket to Sandeep Dikshit whose mother Sheila Dikshit was a three-time Chief Minister of Delhi.
“I contested only one seat,” Mr Kejriwal said at a press conference when asked about the BJP’s allegation that he will fight for the second seat because he is afraid of losing New Delhi.
The AAP leader’s clarification comes after BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya wrote in X that fearing his imminent defeat in New Delhi, Mr Kejriwal is making “baseless allegations” about the voter list in his constituency and is “talking” about and competition for two. seats.
AAP leaders have accused the BJP of filing mass applications in various states, including New Delhi, for removal of thousands of names of AAP supporters from the electoral roll.
In the statement, Mr. Kejriwal said a meeting of AAP leaders and Election Commission officials will be held on Thursday (January 9, 2025) evening, where all issues, including deletion of voters’ names, will be discussed.
The AAP chief also thanked members of the INDIA bloc, including Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), for supporting AAP in the Assembly elections.
The Congress, which leads the anti-BJP INDIA bloc, will go it alone in the Delhi elections and has so far announced the names of 48 candidates.
The 70-member Delhi assembly will go to polls on February 5, 2025. The results will be out on February 8, 2025.
Published – January 09, 2025 03:21 pm IST