Delhi polls: Arvind Kejriwal to contest against Sheila Dikshit

Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal will contest polls from the constituency of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Diskhit in the upcoming state Assembly elections.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal will contest polls from the constituency of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Diskhit in the upcoming state Assembly elections. During the party meet with volunteers, to take a decision on which seat Kejriwal will contest, AAP founder also chose to attack BJP, saying the party fielded weak candidates against Dikshit in the previous polls and challenged Vijay Goel to contest against him and Dikshit. He said he wished to contest from New Delhi constituency and take on Dikshit directly in the electoral contest. Dikshit has earlier contested elections from New Delhi constituency. "If she decides to avoid such a contest in New Delhi constituency out of fear and move to another, I will also move to the seat from where she is contesting," he said after the workers suggested that he fight against the Chief Minister. However, the final ratification of Kejriwal`s candidature will come after a process, which includes collecting 100 signatures from people in constituency and interviews with screening committee and Political Affairs Committee of AAP. AAP has already announced the names of 44 shortlisted candidates for 12 constituencies, including Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh. Kejriwal has earlier protested against Dikshit over various issues including “inflated” electricity and water bills. In 1998, Dikshit defeated BJP candidate Kirti Azad in Gole Market seat by a margin of 5,667 votes after garnering 24,881 votes and five years later, she defeated Poonam Azad by 12,935 votes after polling 25,156. After delimitation exercise, Gole Market seat became defunct and she moved to New Delhi seat which has most localities in the previous seat. Dikshit has won from the seat defeating BJP`s Vijay Jolly by 13,982 votes after polling 39,778 votes. "Why have we chosen to take on Dikshit? Delhi wants to get rid of Dikshit because she has become the symbol of corruption," he alleged. (With PTI Inputs)