Arvind Kejriwal to contest Delhi assembly polls

Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal will contest the Delhi assembly elections scheduled later this year but it was yet to be decided from which constituency he will fight the poll.

"Kejriwal will fight the elections, but from which constituency, we cannot say now...There has been a clamour for his fighting the Delhi elections," AAP chief spokesperson Manish Sisodia told reporters in New Delhi.

Asked whether the party's central leadership will fight the Delhi elections, Sisodia said it was not decided who all among the top leaders will enter the fray. He announced the party's initiative to invite applications and suggestions from the public for selecting candidates for all 70 constituencies.

"We need candidates with character to fight the elections. We are starting the process to select candidates from today. The public can give their suggestions till May 5 and then the screening committee will shortlist five. The political affairs committee will then interview the candidates," Sisodia said.

He alleged that major parties like the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party select their candidates after deliberations in closed rooms and there is "corruption and nepotism" in it. "We are challenging it. We will not have two members from a single family contesting elections," Sisodia said.

The shortlisted names in every constituency will be made public to the party workers in a constituency and there will be preferential voting there. He said they were sending about three lakh emails to professionals and others, including resident welfare assosications to suggest names of candidates for constituencies. "We expect to announce the candidates in 45 days to two months," he said.