Delhi polls: Cong announces first list of 21 candidates, Sandeep Dixit takes on Kejriwal

The Congress on Thursday (12 December) released its first list of candidates for 21 key seats in the upcoming Delhi elections, focusing on strongholds and prominent constituencies.

Sandeep Dikshit, son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and a former MP from East Delhi, will contest against AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal on his home turf, the New Delhi seat. Kejriwal has held the seat since 2013 after defeating former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit that year.

AAP rebel MLA Abdul Rehman, who joined the Congress on Tuesday, has been fielded from Seelampur constituency. He has won the seat in last assembly elections.

Former Delhi minister Haroon Yusuf will contest from Ballimaran, while former Delhi Congress president Chaudhary Anil Kumar will take on AAP’s Awadh Ojha in Patpargan. National spokesperson Ragini Nayak has been nominated from Wazirpur, and Adarsh Shastri will represent Congress in Dwarka.

Other candidates include Ali Mehndi from Mustafabad, Rohit Chaudhry from Nangloi Jat, and Praveen Jain from Shalimar Bagh.

The candidate list was finalized during a meeting of the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC), chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Senior leaders, including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Ambika Soni, Salman Khurshid, T. S. Singh Deo, and Mukul Wasnik, participated in the deliberations. Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav was also present at the meeting.

"All categories have been taken care of. I am happy that our leadership has talked and discussed with everyone," said Yadav before the release of the list.