AAP's Second Candidate List Also Does Not Repeat Incumbent MLAs, Kapil Mishra's Prediction For Manish Sisodia Proves Correct

Over two weeks after releasing the first candidate list for the Delhi assembly election, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) released its second list naming 20 candidates including Manish Sisodia.

Sisodia was the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi but resigned last year after getting arrested in the liquor policy case. He came out on bail in August this year but has not become a Minister again.

However, the notable thing is that, instead of Patparganj, an assembly constituency in East Delhi which Sisodia has represented since 2013, the former Deputy CM has been fielded from Jangpura.

Interestingly, Kapil Mishra, vice president of the Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had claimed last week that Sisodia would not contest in Patparganj and instead, Avadh Ojha would contest there.

The same has happened now. Ojha, after spending over two decades as UPSC coach, joined the AAP last week and has been now fielded from Patparganj in his debut election.

Notably, the party has not repeated any of its incumbent members of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from their respective seats. Only two MLAs have been fielded again, that too from different seats.

Jangpura MLA Pravin Kumar has been fielded in Janakpuri and Patparganj MLA Sisodia in Jangpura. The sons of two MLAs have got tickets from their fathers' respective seats.

Chandni Chowk MLA's son Punardeep Singh Sawhneye and Krishna Nagar MLA's son Vikas Bagga have been fielded from these seats only.

Two BJP candidates, who lost in the 2020 election, have also got the AAP tickets. They are Surender Pal Singh Bittu fielded from Timarpur and Parvesh Ratan from Patel Nagar.

Naveen Choudhary, who lost on the AAP ticket in 2020 from Gandhi Nagar, has been fielded again from here. This trend is similar to the party's first list.

Among the 11 names in the first list, none was an incumbent MLA, but two who lost the 2020 election on BJP tickets and three who lost on AAP tickets, were fielded again.

It is believed that to combat the anti-incumbency of 10 years, the AAP is not repeating incumbent MLAs, a strategy that helped the BJP to win Haryana for the third consecutive term.

The election has not been announced yet but the AAP has started declaring candidates, positioning itself as a pro-active party, while no other party has declared any candidates.

In the 2020 election, the AAP won 62 seats, while the BJP won eight in the 70-seat assembly. Congress has not won a single seat in the last two elections. The upcoming election is expected early next year.