Kejriwal to contest against Sheila Dikshit in Delhi polls

Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday set the ball rolling for a direct electoral fight against Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in the coming Delhi assembly elections.

At a convention of Aam Aadmi Party workers, Kejriwal also chose to attack the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying the party fielded weak candidates against Dikshit in the previous polls and challenged BJP’s Delhi unit chief Vijay Goel to contest against him and Dikshit.

He said he wished to contest from New Delhi constituency and take on Dikshit directly in the electoral contest.

"If she decides to avoid such a contest in New Delhi constituency out of fear and move to another, I will also move to the seat from where she is contesting," he said after AAP workers suggested that he fight against the CM.

The final ratification of Kejriwal's candidature will come after a process, which includes collecting 100 signatures from residents of the constituency and interviews with the screening committee and political affairs committee of the AAP.

In 1998, Dikshit defeated BJP candidate Kirti Azad in Gole Market seat by a margin of 5,667 votes after garnering 24,881 votes and five years later, she defeated Poonam Azad by 12,935 votes after polling 25,156 votes.

After the delimitation exercise, Dikshit won from the New Delhi seat after defeating BJP's Vijay Jolly by 13,982 votes.

"Why have we chosen to take on Dikshit? Delhi wants to get rid of Dikshit because she has become the symbol of corruption," he alleged.

Kejriwal said people no longer see the BJP as a party which can defeat the Congress.

Alleging that BJP was playing an "already fixed" match with the Congress in Delhi, he said, "People have realised that the BJP deliberately fields weak candidates against the chief minister. This time, there is a fight among its leaders on who will be their chief ministerial candidate”.

"Only the AAP can defeat the Congress in Delhi in the coming assembly elections. BJP and Congress indulged in match fixing in the last 15 years. BJP is hand-in-glove with Dikshit," he claimed.

Asked by some party workers as to why Kejriwal was not contesting against Goel, party leader Kumar Vishwas sarcastically said, "Bofors are not used to kill mosquitoes".

"Since the BJP has been losing the assembly elections held for the last 15 years, its name is already out of the political scenario of Delhi. BJP is out of Delhi's political scene. And AAP is the new entrant," said Vishwas.

Prominent lawyer and AAP leader Prashant Bhushan also supported Kejriwal’s decision, saying that the CM, who has become the "symbol" of the current political system, should be taken head-on in her own constituency.

"If we want to change the political system of the country, we will field Kejriwal opposite the personality who is a symbol of this political system," said Bhushan.