AAP releases first list of 20 candidates for LS polls; Medha Patkar to contest from Mumbai North East
New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday released its first list of 20 candidates for Lok Sabha elections, pitting Kumar Vishwas from Amethi, Rahul Gandhi's seat, and former banker Meera Sanyal and social activist Medha Patkar from Mumbai.
The list, which came two days after AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal quit as Delhi Chief Minister, carries names of candidates from Delhi (2), Uttar Pradesh (7), Maharashtra (6), Haryana, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab - one each.
AAP has not, however, announced any candidate in Rae Bareli, the pocket borough of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
TV journalist-turned-politician Ashutosh will contest from Chandni Chowk seat in Delhi held by Union Minister Kapil Sibal.
AAP has given ticket to former scribe Mukul Tripathi for Farukhabad seat in Uttar Pradesh, the constituency of another Union Minister Salman Khurshid.
Advocate H.S. Phoolka will contest from Ludhiana, currently held by I and B Minister Manish Tewari, while activist Hardev Singh has been given ticket in Mulayam Singh Yadav's stronghold Mainpuri.
AAP has fielded anti-corruption activist Anjali Damania from Nagpur against former BJP National President Nitin Gadkari.
"Our main motto is to send honest people to Parliament. We do not want to send criminals, people with dynastic background. We will soon release the list of candidates for other seats," senior party leader Manish Sisodia told reporters here.
Somendra Dhaka, a peasant leader, will contest from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh, a seat represented by Union Minister and Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh.
Sanyal, former CEO and Chairperson of RBS India, will contest from South Mumbai, a seat currently represented by Union Minister Milind Deora.
Social worker Patkar has been fielded from North East Mumbai, an NCP seat.
While announcing the first list of candidates, Sisodia said that party leader and founder member Yogendra Yadav will contest from Gurgaon in Haryana. Yadav has also been appointed AAP's Haryana in-charge.
Jarnail Singh is the AAP nominee for the West Delhi seat, which is currently represented by Congress leader Mahabal Mishra in Parliament.
In Uttar Pradesh, Jiya Lal, a scientist, has been cleared as AAP's candidate for the Lalganj seat, which is at present with BSP's Bali Ram. Educationist Khalid Pervez will contest from Moradabad which former cricketer Mohd Azharuddin currently represents in Parliament while Yogesh Dahiya, a peasant leader from Uttar Pradesh, will be the AAP candidate for Saharanpur.
The Saharanpur seat is held by BSP's Jagdish Singh Rana.
Senior AAP leader Mayank Gandhi will contest from the North West Mumbai seat, which is held by former Union minister, Gurudas Kamat.
Another senior party leader, Subhash Ware, will contest from Pune, a seat held by Congress MP Suresh Kalmadi, who is facing corruption charges. AAP has given a ticket from Nashik to Vijay Pandhare, a former engineer with the state government who had helped unearth the irrigation scam.
Alok Agarwal, another senior activist of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, will contest from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh, while Habung Pyang, a former Information Commissioner in Arunachal Pradesh, will be the AAP contestant in the northeastern state. Lingraj, an activist who took part in the agitation against Posco, will lead AAP's challenge for the Bargarh seat in Odisha.
Next: Patkar may make it more difficult for NCP to retain Mumbai-NE
Patkar may make it more difficult for NCP to retain Mumbai-NE
Mumbai: The candidature of social activist Medha Patkar from Mumbai North East Lok Sabha constituency on Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ticket comes as bad news for Congress-NCP which made a clean sweep in the financial capital in 2009.
Patkar's name is in the list of 20 candidates announced by AAP for the general elections today. NCP sources said sitting MP Sanjay Patil, who is also the president of the Sharad Pawar-led party's city unit, was facing resentment from inside the party and from Congress.
"Congress accused him of sabotaging its candidates in the municipal elections two years ago. NCP corporators and senior leaders are also not in favour of him," a source said.
The constituency has a sizable Dalit population, which had helped RPI leader Ramdas Athawale in the past. But now Athawale, recently elected to Rajya Sabha, is with Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.
Patkar, who shot to fame with Narmada Bachao Andolan, has some base in the constituency as her National Alliance of Peoples Movement (NAPM) works in the slums of Mankhurd.
"We had done well in this area in the last Lok Sabha polls, but Patkar will eat into our votes. Ghatkopar East and West as well as Mulund have Gujarati population, and BJP is likely to do well there given the Narendra Modi factor," said an NCP leader.
Former MP and BJP leader Kirit Somaiya could be the Sena-BJP alliance's candidate from the constituency. NCP sources said the party had already realised that it could be difficult to retain this seat, but Patkar's entry had made it difficult further.
Of the six Lok Sabha seats in Mumbai, last time Congress won five seats and NCP won one seat. Congress sources said it was too early to say whether Patkar would eat into Congress-NCP's votes or BJP's votes.
State Congress spokesman Anant Gadgil said Raj Thackeray's MNS and AAP had disappointed the middle-class which was looking for an alternative to BJP and Congress.
"AAP was given a chance to govern in Delhi, but they have not been successful. AAP and MNS in their initial stages were media creations. In politics, such creations do not last," he said.
Congress-NCP leaders felt the other AAP candidates namely Meera Sanyal (Mumbai South, against Union minister Milind Deora), Mayank Gandhi (Mumbai North West, against AICC General Secretary and CWC member Gurudas Kamat), Vijay Pandhare (Nashik), Subhash Ware (Pune) and Anjali Damania (Nagpur, against BJP leader Nitin Gadkari) will not have much impact.
"AAP has no leadership in the state and will not make a difference. Sanyal had unsuccessfully contested against Deora as Independent candidate last time, while Damania's presence in the fray might help sitting Congress MP Vilas Muttemwar to retain Nagpur for the eight consecutive time," a source added.
