Lok Sabha elections: Congress likely to field Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar from West Delhi seat

After failing to seal a pre-poll alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress has finalised a list of probable candidates for the seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, sources said on Thursday.

Sushil Kumar. Photo: AFP

NEW DELHI: After failing to seal a pre-poll alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress on Thursday finalised a list of probable candidates for all seven Lok Sabha seats in the national capital, sources said on Thursday. The central election commitee of the Congress party met here to delebrate on names for the May 12 polls and finalised its nominees for four seats. The party may field two-time Olympic medalist Sushil Kumar on its ticket from West Delhi or South Delhi constituency, they said. Also, the party is likely to field former Union minister Kapil Sibal from Chandni Chowk, former Delhi minister Rajkumar Chouhan from North West seat, former state unit chief Ajay Maken from New Delhi and former MP J P Agarwal from North East Delhi constituency, the sources further said. The sources said Dikshit's name was also under discussion as a probable from East Delhi seat. "The names of all the seven candidates will be announced together on a later date," All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Delhi P C Chacko told PTI after the meeting. Chacko, however, evaded a categorical reply on the issue of alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), saying it will be taken up later. The AAP had on Wednesday rejected the Congress's offer for alliance in Delhi. All the routes of alliance with the Congress have been closed, AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh had said. The Congress was eager for tie-up with the AAP in Delhi. The AAP, in turn, wanted such an alliance to extend to Haryana and Punjab as well. The talks between the two sides derailed after they failed to reach an agreement over seat-sharing in Delhi and Haryana. A senior Congress leader said that talks of alliance failed because AAP was making "unrealistic" demands. "The popular vote base of the AAP has eroded. They are no more their older version that won 67 out of 70 Assembly seats in Delhi in 2015," said the leader. The seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi were won by the BJP in the last general elections.