In the final list of Congress candidates for Assembly polls in Delhi, two sons of prominent leaders in the Capital, managed to secure their place. West Delhi MP Mahabal Mishra’s son Vinay Mishra was allotted the Palam seat; while former erstwhile Outer Delhi MP Sajjan Kumar’s son Jagparvesh Kumar got a ticket from Sangam Vihar. Initially, Kumar was seeking ticket for his son from Kirari seat. With the announcement of 15 names, the Congress completed its list for 70 seats in the city.
However, the absence of Punjabi pop singer Daler Mehndi’s name in the final list surprised many. He recently joined the party and it was speculated he might contest the elections from Sikh-Punjabi dominated seat from the West Delhi. The party chose former Delhi University presidents Amrita Dhawan from Tilak Nagar and Ragini Nayak from Janakpuri. Insiders say that Mehndi was denied ticket due to a case of human trafficking pending in the court. Strangely, the party has once again ignored the claims of late HKl Bhagat’s son Deepak Bhagat from the Babarpur constituency.
The lone sitting MlA who has not been given a ticket as yet is Dayanand Chandela from Rajouri Garden. This is due to criminal cases against him. However, the party has given ticket to his wife Dhanvantri Chandela from Rajouri Garden constituency. Sources in the Delhi Congress say that West Delhi MP Mahabal Mishra was seeking a ticket for his son Vinay Mishra from the Dwarka constituency, but he was accommodated in the Palam constituency; which is considered an OBC and Pandit dominated seat.
The party has also named two advocates in the final list of candidates. Delhi Congress secretary and delegate Om Prakash Bidhuri has been named the party candidate from Tughlakabad constituency. The party has also named municipal councillor Virender Kasana as its candidate from Greater Kailash against Vijay Kumar Malhotra’s son Ajay Malhotra. Kasana is currently chairman of the Central Zone of South Delhi Municipal Corporation.