Delhi AAP MLA may join Akali Dal

› The top leadership of the party has decided that sitting MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa will contest from Rajouri Garden, Harmeet Singh Kalka may contest from Kalkaji seat.

A SENIOR SAD LEADER

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Jagdeep Singh who on Saturday resigned from the party after being denied a ticket for the Delhi assembly elections is likely to join the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). He may seek re-election from Hari Nagar, leaders in the SAD said.

“I was unhappy that the AAP chose to give a ticket to a turncoat (Rajkumari Dhillon), who joined the party from Congress just a day before ticket distribution. They overlooked their own party worker and my hard work in the constituency. Instead they decided to bring in people from the Congress, leaders of which had been involved in anti-Sikh riots,” Singh said.

AAP leaders declined to comment on the matter.

When asked about him possibly joining the SAD, Singh said, “Talks are going on. I have to serve the people of Hari Nagar with honest intension. So I will join whatever organisation that lets me do so.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ally SAD will contest from four seats — Rajouri Garden, Kalkaji, Shahdara and Hari Nagar —in the Delhi assembly elections scheduled on February 8. These assembly segments consist a sizeable number of Sikhs and Punjabis.

According to senior party leaders, the SAD leadership has zeroed in on the candidature from three seats but they are yet to pick a name for Hari Nagar.

A senior SAD leader, on the condition of anonymity, said, “The top leadership of the party has decided that sitting MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa will contest from Rajouri Garden, Harmeet Singh Kalka may contest from Kalkaji seat while former MLA Jitender Singh Shunty may contest from Shahdara. The name of Jagdeep Singh is also being discussed for Hari Nagar, along with three other party leaders.”

Kalka is the SAD’s Delhi unit chief and had won the 2013 election before losing in the 2015 polls. Shunty had also won the 2013 election. The current MLA from Rajouri Garden, Sirsa, confirmed the developments. He said that some names have been shortlisted and a formal announcement would be made soon.

Sirsa had won the 2013 Assembly poll but had lost the 2015 election to AAP’s Jarnail Singh.