Election activity is intense in Delhi, but in the meantime the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has suffered a major setback. Senior party MLA Shoaib Iqbal has announced that he will not contest the upcoming assembly elections. He has given this information to party supremo Arvind Kejriwal.
Decision taken after discussion with Kejriwal
Shoaib Iqbal told PTI:
“I met Arvind Kejriwal ji and discussed many issues including the current situation in Delhi. I told him about my decision not to contest the elections due to some personal reasons.”
Who will become the candidate?
Shoaib Iqbal has indicated that his son Aale Mohammad Iqbal can be made a candidate from Matia Mahal assembly seat.
- Ale Mohammad Iqbal is an MCD councilor from Aam Aadmi Party.
- He has also been Deputy Mayor in the past.
However, Aam Aadmi Party has not yet made any official announcement on this.
AAP changed candidate from Mehrauli seat
Apart from this, Aam Aadmi Party has also recently changed its candidate from Mehrauli seat.
- Mahendra Chaudhary has been given the ticket in place of sitting MLA Naresh Yadav.
- According to sources, the party feared loss due to allegations of sacrilege of Quran against Naresh Yadav, hence he refused to contest the elections.
AAP leaders continue to join BJP
On Saturday, the Aam Aadmi Party suffered another setback when party leader Dr. Sukhvir Singh Dalal and Delhi Gurdwara Management Committee member Sardar Balbir Singh joined the BJP.
- Both the leaders joined the party in the presence of BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, Union ministers of state Harsh Malhotra, and Ashish Sood.