The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) may replace its existing MLA Alka Lamba by fielding Lok Sabha candidate Pankaj Gupta from Chandni Chowk in the next Assembly elections, sources said.
Lamba, who on last Sunday said she has decided to resign from the primary membership of the party and will contest the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls as an independent candidate. Following it, the AAP said it is ready to accept her resignation even on Twitter.
A party insider said that the party is looking for replacement for Lamba and have zeroed on Gupta. However, no official confirmation was given either by the party or Gupta in the matter.
According to sources, Gupta has been asked to start preparing for contesting the polls. Moreover, the party is also looking for suitable candidates from Karawal Nagar, Bijwasan and Gandhi Nagar assembly constituencies who could be fielded in place of Kapil Mishra, Anil Kumar Bajpai and Col Devender Sehrawat who have been disqualified by the Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel .
According to sources, former BJP leader from Bijwasan Assembly, Kishan Kumar Sehrawat is being considered for replacing Devender while party member Durgesh Pathak might replace Mishra.
The AAP suffered a defeat in the Lok Sabha polls and lost on all seven seats in Delhi. Gupta got 1.44 lakh of the cumulative 9.8 lakh votes and lost his security deposit in the Lok Sabha polls.
Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal last month chaired a meeting of party MLAs to review 'Aapka Vidhayak Aapke Dwar', a public outreach programme launched after the party lost the Lok Sabha election in Delhi.
Under the programme, MLAs interact with the public to know about their problems. A senior party leader said the programme was launched after an analysis of the Lok Sabha election failure showed that the party needed more work at the ground level.
The second phase of the programme has also been launched under which the MLAs would increase their outreach with people of their assemblies. Assembly polls in Delhi are expected to be held in February next year.