AAP to fight tainted candidates in Lok Sabha polls

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday said it will contest over 350 Lok Sabha seats and vowed to take on tainted candidates and political leaders who have become "symbols" of corruption and criminalisation of politics.

The fledgling party, which made a stunning debut in the recent Delhi assembly polls, said it would contest elections against 14 Union ministers as well as A Raja allegedly involved in the 2G spectrum scam.

"We have received reports from our state conveners and looking at the response from different seats, it has been decided that the Aam Aadmi Party will contest more than 350 seats in the Lok Sabha elections," senior party leader and Political Affairs Committee (PAC) member Sanjay Singh told reporters. He was briefing on the issues discussed in the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held here.

The meeting, second in a month, assumes significance as the party discussed strategies ahead of Lok Sabha elections. The party will also make "corruption" and "criminalisation of politics" as major issues.

"Corruption and criminalisation of politics are two broader issues on which the party will fight the Lok Sabha elections. The party will field candidates against leaders in different parties, who have become symbols of corruption and criminalisation of politics. "There are 162 MPs with criminal cases registered against them. Of these, 73 MPs have cases related to heinous crimes. The party will try to field candidates against them," Singh added.

When asked whether the party would field candidates against ministers like A Raja, he said the party would contest elections against 15 ministers "against whom there were serious charges and the former Union Minister is one of them".

Singh said that issues discussed in the NEC meeting today will be placed before National Council meeting, which is to be held tomorrow, for ratification. Issues related to amendments in the party Constitution will also be discussed in the National Council meeting, party leader Gopal Rai said.

AAP announces first list of probable candidates for LS polls

Banker Meera Sanyal and activist Mayank Gandhi figured in the AAP's first list of probable candidates released late tonight for forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in Maharashtra while no senior leader's name featured from Delhi and Haryana.

Sanyal, a former chief executive officer of Royal Bank of Scotland who joined AAP recently, has been named as probable candidate from Mumbai South constituency while Gandhi's name has been declared from North-west Mumbai. Of the 48 parliamentary seats in Maharashtra, the party has released the names of probable candidates from Mumbai, Nagpur, Thane, Pune and Nashik.

Vijay Pandhare, a former engineer with the Maharashtra government, has been named as probable candidate from Nashik. Pandhare played a major role in unearthing the irrigation scam that led to the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

Of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, the party relased the names of probable candidates for six seats. It is yet to declare any name from North-west Delhi constituency.

The probable candidates in Delhi include Mohammad Mursaleen and Mohit Beniwal for Chandani Chowk seat, Dev Das Goswami and Irvinder Singh for West-Delhi seat and Mamta Sharma and Niranjan Koli from South Delhi Lok Sabha seat.

Party sources said that around 65 applicants were vying for each Lok Sabha seat in Delhi. The party has released list of probable candidates from all the 10 parliamentary seats in Haryana, which included Satish Yadav from Gurgaon and Amit Pathak from Faridabad.

The party has asked people to give feedback on the probable candidates. "We are in the process of screening the candidates and we will keep updating the list in coming days. The list will be finalised by the Political Affairs Committee after seeing feedback for the candidates," a party source said.