Cong’s first list of candidates ou

New Delhi,

Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Delhi, the Congress on New Year displayed poll readiness releasing the first list of 24 candidates and finalising 40 star campaigners to drive its canvassing.The party has repeated all its sitting MLAs and has reposed faith in former ministers and legislators who had lost the previous elections to an anti-Congress and pro-Aam Aadmi Party wave.It’s after long that the Grand Old Party has declared its candidates with over a month to go for elections. The move is in pursuance of the recommendations of the erstwhile AK Antony committee on poll preparedness which had suggested advance declaration of candidates as a crucial election strategy.The party today also finalised 40 star campaigners for Delhi elections, with party chief Sonia Gandhi, vice-president Rahul Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh named as the top three.Former CM of Delhi and the face of party’s campaign in the last elections Sheila Dikshit is another top campaigner with party leaders not ruling out the possibility of her contesting from New Delhi constituency which she represented for 15 years before losing to AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal last time.On Sheila contesting the polls considering she had more than once voiced her reluctance, Congress general secretary for Delhi PC Chacko told The Tribune: “Every option is open. We are yet to finalise candidates on the pending seats.” Delhi assembly has 70 segments.Also doing the rounds for another VIP constituency of Greater Kailash is the name of Sharmishtha Mukherjee, the daughter of President Pranab Mukherjee, though Chacko didn’t confirm if her name was on the short list.Meanwhile, the Congress, in a show of aggression this time, has appointed campaign managers for each of the 70 constituencies in Delhi. “The idea is to have these campaign managers drive the entire canvassing plan with dedicated focus. This is the first time we are having campaign managers,” said a source. These managers are all either sitting or former senior Congress legislators.Among nine sitting MLAs the Congress has repeated in Delhi’s first list are Jai Kishen from Sultanpur Majra reserved segment; Devendra Yadav from Badli; Prahlad Sawhney from Chandni Chowk; Haroon Yusuf from Ballimaran; Asif Mohammad Khan on Okhla; Delhi Pradesh Congress President Arvinder Singh Lovely; Mateen Ahmad from Seelampur and Hasan Ahmed from Mustafabad.Also on the list is Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal, a quintessential outsider, who recently joined the Congress as part of party’s strategy to fight the plans of Asaduddin Owaisi’s MIM fielding candidates in Delhi. Owaisi, a sitting Lok Sabha MP, surprised both the Congress and BJP by dividing the Muslim vote in the recent Maharashtra polls. Of the nine MLAs in Congress first list, five are Muslims.