Congress to contest all seven LS seats in Delhi: Sheila Dikshit

New Delhi: Ruling out alliance with Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Congress’ Delhi unit chief Sheila Dikshit on Saturday said her party will contest all seven parliamentary seats in the city and the process of selecting “winnable” candidates has started.

The party candidates will be a mix of old and new faces as well former MLAs, she told reporters here. The assertion by Dikshit comes amid recurring speculation over possibility of an alliance between the Congress and the AAP for Lok Sabha polls.

“No it’s over with,” Dikshit said when questioned about the possibility of alliance with the AAP.

The AAP too has asserted that it will independently contest elections in Delhi, Punjab and Haryana. The party may have some loss or benefit in absence of an alliance and the Congress will pay attention to it, she said.

“We will contest all the seven seats ourselves. A lot of names are there but we need winnable candidates. There will be some old faces, some new ones and some former MLAs,” said the former Delhi chief minister.

The names of probable candidates for Lok Sabha polls will be sent to the central party leadership for screening after a cut off date which is yet to be decided.

Dikshit asserted that Delhi witnessed a “historical rule” under the Congress for 15 years and people still recall the works done by her government.

She charged the ruling AAP with “misleading” people on its performance and claimed the voters in Delhi will give their reply in the elections.

The Congress has “good chances” of victory in Delhi, she said, adding “losing and winning elections is a part of democracy.”