The Congress on Tuesday released its second list of 26 candidates for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections, fielding Farhad Suri against AAP leader Manish Sisodia in Jangpura. The list also includes tickets for ex-AAP MLAs Asim Khan and Devender Sehrawat, who recently joined the Congress.
With the release of this list, Congress has announced a total of 47 candidates for the elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly. Asim Khan will contest from Matia Mahal, while Devender Sehrawat has been fielded from Bijwasan. Both had officially joined the Congress on Monday.
Suri’s candidature from Jangpura sets up a significant contest against AAP’s Manish Sisodia. Other prominent names in the second list include Satish Luthra from Shakur Basti, Rajesh Lilothia from Seemapuri (SC), Haji Mohammad Ishraq Khan from Babarpur, Rajesh Chauhan from Deoli (SC), Pradeep Kumar Upmanyu from Delhi Cantt, and Sumit Sharma from Laxmi Nagar.
Earlier this month, Congress had released its first list of 21 candidates. This included ex-MP Sandeep Dikshit, who will contest from New Delhi against AAP national convener and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The party also announced Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav from Badli, ex-Delhi minister Haroon Yusuf from Ballimaran, ex-Delhi Congress president Chaudhary Anil Kumar from Patparganj, national spokesperson Ragini Nayak from Wazirpur, and Adarsh Shastri from Dwarka.
The second list was finalised after the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting earlier in the day. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi participated via video conferencing, while Delhi in-charge Qazi Mohammad Nizamuddin and Delhi unit chief Devender Yadav, among others, were physically present at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi.
The Delhi Assembly elections are expected to take place in February next year.