Karawal Nagar suffered under former MLA Kapil Mishra: AAP candidate

AAP candidate from Karawal Nagar Durgesh Pathak has said that a lot of "big ticket" projects are needed in his assembly constituency which has "suffered" a lot under former MLA Kapil Mishra.

Pathak, the youngest member of the Aam Aadmi Party's Political Affairs Committee, the party's highest decision-making body, is contesting his first election.

Speaking to PTI, the 31-year-old said, "People tell me don't become like Kapil Mishra, they have high expectations from me. Kapil Mishra did not meet people, he wasn't connected. His presence was just on Twitter".

"Under Kapil Mishra, work suffered a lot," Pathak claimed.

Mishra, a former minister in the Arvind Kejriwal government, was disqualified from the Delhi Assembly in August 2019. He was suspended from the party in May 2017 and since then has been openly critical of the party, though he remained an MLA till he was disqualified.

Mishra is now the BJP's candidate from Model Town.

Pathak said the response towards him in the assembly has been "unbelievable" and he aims to develop the area by bringing "big ticket" projects.

Pathak said Karawal Nagar is one of the remotest areas of Delhi and one of the main reasons for it is lack of major projects.

"That will be my focus, to develop this area. Three things I will focus on will be solving water crisis, regularisation of small industries and improvement in transport system," he said.

Assembly elections will be held on February 8 in Delhi which is witnessing a triangular contest among the ruling AAP, the BJP and the Congress.

The Aam Aadmi Party has dropped 15 sitting MLAs from its list of 70 candidates and given tickets to 24 first-timers, including Pathak.

In the assembly polls five years ago, the AAP bagged 67 seats, leaving just three for the BJP.