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The Aam Aadmi Party today replaced its party candidate from Congress President Sonia Gandhi's Rae Bareli seat after AAP's candidate withdrew from the fray.
Former High Court judge Fakhruddin, who was pitted to take on Gandhi from Rae Bareli had conveyed to the party about his withdrawal a few days back.
The party today announced that social worker Archana Srivastava will fight the Lok Sabha elections from the seat after Fakhruddin's departure.
The party maintained that Fakhruddin withdrew his candidature four days back due to many reasons including personal ones. "He was hesitant in contesting (from the seat). He exited due to personal reasons and also because there were also some technical issues related to his voter identity card. So, there were many reasons behind it," Raghav Chadha, official spokesperson of AAP told Business Standard.
A senior leader said that his name was enrolled in voters list of two constituencies in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh due to which he was hesitant to contest as he thought it could act as a hindrance and could dent party's image.
Even after reassurance from the party, Fakhruddin decided not to contest from the seat.
Rae Bareli goes to poll on 30 April and this comes a day before the deadline to file nomination from the constituency. This might come as a blow to the party as Fakhruddin, who has been a High Court Judge in Madhya Pradesh since 12 years, and considered a heavyweight candidate by the senior party functionaries.
Srivastava has been associated with the party since its inception and played an active role in the Anna Hazare movement as well. Interestingly, Srivastava was considered as a potential candidate to take on Gandhi before the party officially announced Fakhruddin's candidature on 3 April.
Chadha said that as the party had to field a potential candidate from the important seat it decided on Srivastava's name. Fakhruddin could not be reached for a comment.
