MLAs could be omitted from AAP list in New Delhi, Delhi election news updates, Delhi political news, Delhi Vidhan Sabha election(Chunav)2014
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- Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015 21:08
MLAs could be omitted from AAP list in New Delhi
Some former Aam Aadmi Party MLAs could be replaced by new faces in the forthcoming polls, party sources said. It is also learnt that the party’s final list of candidates will also have a few names who unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections in the city earlier this year. ‘Practical concerns, rather than an assessment of performance’ is what a source described as the logic behind taking “some tough calls”.
“Dropping a candidate should not be seen as a punishment. Practical considerations have to be taken into account in formulating a strategy. We are convinced that all our MLAs represented their people well but we cannot forget that much water has flown under the bridge . We have to admit that the perception of the people has changed to some extent, resulting in new political equations being formed,” said a source.
It is because of these changed equations, which have led the party to believe that more Muslims and Sikhs would be drawn towards it, that both communities may find more representation in the list of candidates.
Unlike in 2013, when the party had selected all its candidates through a rigorous screening process, the AAP has now entrusted its top leadership to pick candidates this time. However, a senior party leader said: “Even though we have not conducted the primaries, we have made detailed assessments of all 70 constituencies in the past five months. The findings will also cast a shadow on the list.”
Another source said that while during the party’s electoral debut, Mr. Kejriwal’s name was enough to secure seats for some candidates, their individual stature would also be a factor this time.
Then there are constituencies where the party will need to look for new faces. For instance, Laxmi Nagar MLA Vinod Kumar Binny quit the party and sitting MLAs Harish Khanna (Timarpur) and Rajesh Garg (Rohini) too have conveyed their unwillingness to contest again.
Even as the temperature in the Capital is dropping gradually, the party is sweating it out to replace some of the unsuccessful candidates from the last elections as well. Shazia Ilmi, once a prominent face of the party who lost marginally from the R.K. Puram seat, and Praveen Kumar from Wazirpur have left the party. The party leaders said the final list of candidates is likely to come out in several phases.
src:hindustantimes