BJP's Manoj Tiwari slams AAP's candidate list, claims Delhi doesn't want its candidates to win
Dec 15, 2024
New Delhi [India], December 15 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Manoj Tiwari on Sunday responded to the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) release of its final list of candidates for the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections, stating that while it may be part of their "strategy," "no one wants AAP candidates to win" as the party has failed Delhi.
Commenting on AAP's candidate list, Tiwari said, "It doesn't matter to us. They have released a list, and they will later make changes to it. It is their strategy, but no one wants AAP candidates to win. AAP has failed Delhi."
Earlier in the day, AAP unveiled its fourth and final list of 38 candidates for the 2025 Delhi Elections. According to the list, the party's national convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will contest from New Delhi, Chief Minister Atishi from Kalkaji, Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj from Greater Kailash, and Minister Gopal Rai from Babarpur. Additionally, Satyendra Kumar Jain will contest from Shakur Basti, Durgesh Pathak from Rajinder Nagar, Ramesh Pehalwan from Kasturba Nagar, Raghuvinder Shokeen from Nangloi Jat, Som Dutt from Sadar Bazar, Imran Hussain from Ballimaran, and Jarnail Singh from Tilak Nagar.
The list features two new names, while 36 sitting MLAs have been re-nominated. AAP has fielded Ramesh Pehalwan from Kasturba Nagar and Pooja Naresh Balyan, wife of BJP leader Naresh Balyan, from Uttam Nagar.
On Sunday, BJP leader Ramesh Pehalwan and his wife Kusumlata Ramesh joined AAP in the presence of Arvind Kejriwal, the party's national convener.
On Friday, AAP released its third list of candidates, fielding Tarun Yadav from Najafgarh. Earlier, on December 9, the party issued its second list, replacing 17 sitting MLAs with new faces. However, three familiar names--Manish Sisodia, Rakhi Birla, and Deepu Chaudhary--were re-nominated. Chaudhary had previously contested but lost in the last election.
Meanwhile, Congress, which ruled Delhi for 15 consecutive years, has struggled in the past two assembly elections, failing to win any seats. In 2020, AAP won 62 out of 70 seats, while BJP secured the remaining eight.
