Thu Dec 12 17:25:13 UTC 2024: ## Congress Announces First 21 Candidates for Delhi Assembly Polls
**New Delhi:** The Indian National Congress (INC) on Thursday released its first list of 21 candidates for the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. The list includes prominent figures like Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav, contesting from Badli, and former MP Sandeep Dikshit, who will challenge Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the New Delhi constituency.
Other notable candidates include former Delhi minister Haroon Yusuf (Ballimaran), former Delhi Congress chief Chaudhary Anil Kumar (Patparganj), national spokesperson Ragini Nayak (Wazirpur), and Adarsh Shastri (Dwarka). The party also fielded several new faces.
The candidate list was finalized after a meeting of the Congress’ Central Election Committee (CEC), chaired by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Senior leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and several CEC members, were present.
Qazi Nizamuddin, Delhi Congress in-charge, stated that the party believes the people of Delhi are ready to punish both the central and Delhi governments for their perceived failures over the past decade. Devender Yadav added that the candidate list represents a diverse range of backgrounds and includes both experienced and new candidates.
Despite earlier speculation of a pre-poll alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), both parties have confirmed they will contest the elections independently.
First Piper 