Ajay Maken to contest Delhi polls

Congress leader and former union minister Ajay Maken's name figured in the party's second list of 25 candidates for the Delhi assembly polls that was released here Wednesday.

Maken, who has been fielded from the Sadar Bazar assembly constituency, is also the Congress campaign committee chief for the election.

With this, the party has named 49 candidates for the 70-member Delhi assembly which will vote Feb 7.

The 50-year-old leader has been a three-time Delhi legislator and a cabinet minister in the Sheila Dikshit government. The Congress regime was ousted by the Aam Aadmi Party in the 2013 assembly polls.

A two-time parliamentarian from New Delhi constituency, Maken lost to Bharatiya Janata Party's Meenakshi Lekhi in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

The list also had the name of former West Delhi Lok Sabha member Mahabal Mishra who will contest from Dwarka assembly seat.

Former Delhi assembly speaker Yoganand Shastri has been given the ticket from Malviya Nagar in south Delhi. In the last assembly polls, former minister Kiran Walia had unsuccessfully contested from this constituency.

Rita Shokeen, wife of independent legislator in the outgoing assembly Ramveer Shokeen, has been fielded from Mundka seat.