AAP to chop half of 2013 candidates; first list out likely coming week

Aiming to repeat its 2013 showing and in the face of the Narendra Modi-led BJP juggernaut, the AAP has begun formulating a poll-winning strategy which includes denying tickets to as many as 50 percent of its previous candidates in the upcoming Delhi assembly polls, party sources here said.

Knowledgeable party sources told IANS that those who stood third in the December 2013 assembly polls or were placed second with a wide margin would face the axe.

Twenty-odd AAP candidates came in third position in the December 2013 polls while close to 15 others were placed second with wide margins.

The Aam Aadmi Party's Political Affairs Committee had begun consultations to finalise the list of its candidates for the impending assembly elections and was likely to come out with its first list coming week, the sources said.

The date of the Delhi assembly polls is yet to be announced.

A handful of wining candidates like M.S. Dhir (Jangpura), Raju Dhingan (Trilokpuri), Dharmender Koli (Seemapuri) and Veena Anand (Patel Nagar) might also not be fielded again, the sources said.

M.S Dhir was speaker of the 70-member Delhi assembly which stands dissolved now.

The BJP and the Congress have traditionally held sway in Delhi. This changed last year when the AAP, contesting from all the assembly constituencies, pulled off a stunning performance with a tally of 28 seats.

In comparison, the BJP won 31 seats, while the Congress got just eight.

The AAP went on to form the government with the backing of the Congress, only to quit the government after 49 days over its failure to introduce an anti-corruption bill.