NEW DELHI: AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal's announcement that
party legislators will not be considered for the parliamentary elections set
off speculation on his own candidature for the Lok Sabha polls. While Kejriwal
has consistently said that no decision was taken on whether he will fight LS
elections, there has been considerable pressure from the party and outside to
contest.
"We will not give ticket to any legislator for the Lok
Sabha elections," Kejriwal said. He was speaking in response to a question
on MLA Rakhi Birla's possible candidature for north—west Delhi. Though Birla's
name has not been formally announced, several party members have been sitting
on an indefinite hunger strike against her nomination.
Party sources said the issue was discussed in the political
affairs committee on Wednesday. "There is no doubt that she is a strong
candidate but we need people for Delhi also," a source said. The party
will contest all 70 Delhi assembly seats whenever state elections are announced
and would like to retain strong candidates for that.
Kejriwal has expressed interest in staying committed to
Delhi rather than contest LS polls though there are chances that he may fight
against BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi if the CM contests from
outside Gujarat. However, there is no clarity yet on where Modi will contest
from and AAP is keeping its cards close to its chest for now.
AAP made its debut with 28 seats in the Delhi assembly
elections. It ran the city government for 49 days with outside support of the
Congress, but the government resigned on the issue of Jan Lokpal bill. The
party has subsequently challenged the imposition of President's rule in Delhi
and keeping the assembly in suspended animation. If its contention that keeping
the assembly in suspended animation will encourage horse—trading is upheld, the
party will have to gear up both for Delhi and LS polls.
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