In a significant move ahead of the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has released its fourth and final list of candidates, fielding party convenor Arvind Kejriwal from New Delhi and Chief Minister Atishi from Kalkaji. The list, which includes 38 candidates, features prominent leaders of the party such as Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, Satyendra Kumar Jain, and Durgesh Pathak.
The elections for the 70-member Delhi Assembly are scheduled to be held in February 2025. Arvind Kejriwal, addressing the media, ruled out any possibility of a pre-poll alliance with Congress, reaffirming that AAP will contest the elections independently.
Key candidates announced in the final list include Saurabh Bharadwaj, who will contest from Greater Kailash, and Gopal Rai, who has been fielded from Babarpur. Satyendra Kumar Jain will contest from Shakur Basti, while Durgesh Pathak is set to contest from Rajinder Nagar. Additionally, Ramesh Pehalwan will stand for election from Kasturba Nagar, Raghuvinder Shokeen from Nangloi, Imran Hussain from Ballimaran, Jarnail Singh from Tilak Nagar, and Sanjeev Jha from Burari.
Earlier, there had been speculations regarding a potential alliance between AAP and Congress, especially after Kejriwal attended an opposition meeting concerning alleged tampering of EVMs and VVPAT machines during the Maharashtra Assembly elections. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, AAP and Congress had formed an alliance in Delhi and other regions.
As the assembly elections approach, there is also the possibility of Kejriwal facing stiff competition from the sons of two former Delhi Chief Ministers. Congress has fielded Sandeep Dikshit, son of former CM Sheila Dikshit, while the BJP is likely to nominate Parvesh Sahib Singh, the son of ex-CM Sahib Singh Verma, for the New Delhi seat. Parvesh recently confirmed that he is preparing to contest from New Delhi, the same constituency as Kejriwal.
In his campaign, Parvesh has criticized AAP’s governance, stating that Delhi has suffered under “10 years of misrule” and promised that his party would prioritize accessibility and responsiveness. He assured the people that he would be with them “24 hours a day in your happiness and sorrow.”
Meanwhile, Kejriwal has made several promises to the people of Delhi, including five guarantees for auto drivers. Among these guarantees are ₹1 lakh for the marriage of daughters and ₹10 lakh in life insurance. The AAP leader has also promised financial support of ₹2,500 for purchasing school uniforms during Diwali and Holi.
In his criticism of the BJP, Kejriwal warned Delhiites that a BJP government would lead to power cuts, asserting that electricity is free in Delhi but costly in BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar.
With the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections just around the corner, all eyes are now on the electoral battle between AAP, BJP, and Congress as they prepare to face the electorate in the coming months.
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