Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday evening released the full list of 85 candidates who will fight the upcoming Jalandhar Municipal Corporation (MC) Elections 2024. The last date for filing the nomination is December 12 and hence, all political parties have been announcing their candidates for the MC elections. There are a total of 85 wards in the city.
Going through the list of names shared by the AAP, it can be said that the party has maintained a balanced approach in fielding its candidates. Meaning, AAP has fielded both new and old names in Jalandhar MC politics. For instance, Aruna Arora who joined AAP after leaving Congress has been fielded from Ward number 33. Varesh Mintu also left the BJP and joined AAP. Mintu has been fielded from Ward number 40.
Ajay Chopra is also a former BJP leader who joined AAP and he has been fielded from Ward number 30. Vaneet Dhir who left the BJP to join AAP has been fielded from Ward number 62. Furthermore, former Congress Mayor Jagdish Raja and his wife Anita Raja have also been given tickets from AAP. While Jagdish Raja will fight the Jalandhar MC Elections from Ward number 64, his wife Anita will contest the polls from Ward number 65.
AAP makes changes in its candidate list
It is pertinent to mention here that AAP on Wednesday morning shared a list of 72 candidates out of 85. However, it soon took down the list shared on social media. Later on Wednesday evening, AAP shared an updated and complete list of candidates for the Jalandhar MC polls.
In its old list, AAP had fielded Ravinder Kumar Bansal from Ward 64 rather than former Congress Mayor Jagdish Raja. Also, Jagdish Raja's wife's name was not mentioned in the first list as the party did not announce the candidate for Ward number 65. Now, the list of candidates has been updated and Jagdish Raja and his wife Anita have been given the party ticket.
Interestingly, sources in the known development revealed that AAP MLA Raman Arora wanted the party's ticket for his 'Samdhi' Raj Kumar Madan from Ward number 64. However, MLA Arora could not secure a ticket for Raj Kumar Madan.
On the other hand, AAP's North constituency in charge Dinesh Dhall succeeded in securing a party ticket for his brother Amit Dhall. Amit Dhall will be fighting from Ward number 24.