The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday released its second list of 20 candidates for the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, dropping 18 sitting MLAs and moving two others, including former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, to new seats.

Sisodia will now contest from Jangpura, while Avadh Ojha, an educator and recent AAP entrant, will fight from Sisodia's current Patparganj seat. "Politics for me is a means to education, honesty, and public welfare. I am ready to replicate the work done in Patparganj in Jangpura," Sisodia said.

Commenting on Sisodia moving to a different seat, Delhi minister Gopal Rai said, "Manish Sisodia is capable of winning anywhere in Delhi." Another MLA in the second list is Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla, but she has been shifted from Mangolpuri to Madipur, with Rakesh Jatav Dharamrakshak contesting from her current seat. Madipur MLA Girish Soni has been dropped.

Narela MLA Sharad Kumar Chauhan has been replaced by Dinesh Bharadwaj, while Timarpur MLA and the party's chief whip in the assembly, Dilip K Pandey, has been replaced by Surendra Pal Singh Bittu. Mukesh Goel, the leader of the house in the MCD, has been fielded from Adarsh Nagar, replacing Pawan Sharma.

In Mundka, Dharampal Lakhra has been replaced by Jasbir Karala. Pradeep Mittal has been fielded from Rohini, a constituency the AAP lost to the BJP's Vijender Gupta in 2020. Other notable changes include Punardeep Sawhney, who replaces his father and MLA Parlad Singh Sawhney from Chandni Chowk, and Parvesh Ratan, who will contest from Patel Nagar after former Delhi minister Raaj Kumar Anand switched over to the BJP.

Other changes include Prakash Jarwal being replaced by Prem Kumar Chauhan in Deoli and Anjana Parcha replacing Rohit Kumar in Trilokpuri. The son of Krishna Nagar MLA S K Bagga, Vikas Bagga, will now contest the seat.

Padma Shri awardee Jitender Singh Shunty, who recently joined AAP, will contest the Shahdara seat after sitting MLA and assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel announced retirement, citing age. Whereas, Adil Ahmad Khan will replace sitting MLA Haji Yunus from the Mustafabad seat.

Bijwasan MLA B S Joon has also been dropped in favour of Surendar Bharadwaj. Joginder Solanki will contest from the Palam seat, replacing sitting MLA Bhavna Gaur. Naveen Choudhary will contest from the Gandhi Nagar seat currently held by party MLA Anil Kumar Bajpai.

AAP leaders emphasised that these changes reflect the party’s commitment to hard work and efficiency.

Responding to the development, both the BJP and Congress attacked the AAP and declared the party a "sinking ship". Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, "Arvind Kejriwal-led party's ship is sinking. If Manish Sisodia, former deputy chief minister, has to run away and fight from another place like a fugitive, then the message to AAP workers and voters is clear that AAP has looted the public. Changing seats will not change AAP's deeds." Delhi Congress president Devender Yadav alleged that "sensing the angry mood of the people against the AAP, Kejriwal has conceded defeat even before the dates for the assembly elections have been announced by dropping 13 sitting MLAs in the second list of 20 AAP candidates".

Kejriwal's cosmetic changes in candidates will not change people's ire at him for ruining their life through "misrule", Yadav added. Responding to the accusations, AAP senior leader Gopal Rai said that most of these new candidates are party councillors who were actively working in these constituencies. They were chosen based on their performance, as the party has been consistently gathering micro-feedback from the public in every constituency, he said.

The AAP issued its first candidate list for 11 constituencies on November 21 and fielded six turncoats from the BJP and the Congress. The Delhi Assembly elections due by February 2024 are a critical test for the AAP as it seeks to secure a third term following its sweeping victory in the 2020 elections when it won 62 out of the 70 seats.

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