Kejriwal vs who? BJP and Congress still undecided

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) first list of candidates for the February 8 state elections have one thing in common: both are yet to decide on who will contest against incumbent chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal from New Delhi constituency.

The Congress is yet to announce candidates to 15 other seats — Rajinder Nagar, Mehrauli, Okhla, Badarpur, Burari, Kirari, Tilak Nagar, Uttam Nagar, Bijwasan, Vikaspuri, Palam, Kondli, Ghonda, Karawal Nagar and Madipur. While BJP is yet to name candidates to 12 other seats. Both parties are yet to name candidates for Burari and Mehrauli.

Senior Congress leaders said that the party leadership is still holding talks regarding whom to field against Kejriwal as it is looking for a strong candidate who can give him the AAP chief a tough fight . “We need a heavyweight to defeat Kejriwal. So the party is taking some time in deciding the right candidate,” said a Congress leader, who wished not to be named.

In 2013, Kejriwal defeated then-chief minister Sheila Dikshit of the Congress. In 2015, he had defeated Congress’s Kiran Walia and the BJP’S then Delhi unit spokesperson Nupur Sharma. “In New Delhi, it looks like the BJP and the Congress are looking out for a strong face. This delay can be seen as symbolic – they are not ready to let the constituency be a cakewalk for Arvind Kejriwal,” said Praveen Rai, political analyst with the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in Delhi.