SP to contest all 70 Delhi Assembly seats

Samajwadi Party today said it will field candidates for all 70 seats in the December 4 Delhi assembly polls.

Announcing the decision, SP's Delhi chief Usha Yadav said the party will release the list of candidates after November 9, the date of filing nominations.

"The party will project itself as an alternative to Congress and BJP. We have finalised a list of candidates for all 70 seats and will announce their names in a couple of days," Yadav told reporters here.

"As far as selection of candidates is concerned, we have tried to give adequate representation to women and youths. We are confident of increasing our vote share to 6 per cent and get the party registered in Delhi," she said.

Unveiling the party's poll strategy, Yadav said an 18-member committee has been formed for election campaign.

SP would organise rallies in the coming weeks where party's chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, among others, will be the star campaigners, she said.

"Our workers are putting in all their efforts in the election campaigning. We are working on the strategy of 'one booth, ten youths' to reach out to the grass-root level," she said.

The SP leader said only those with clean image and acceptability among the people have been given party tickets. "Those who have been working for the party for a long time have been given preference," she said.

The party will release its manifesto after candidates file their nominations, she said.

Yadav said the focus would be on providing small loans to unemployed youth so that they can start their own business.