The Delhi Assembly elections are still four months away, but the chessboard is already being laid. His former aide from the New Delhi seat, Dr Munish Kumar Raizada, has announced his candidacy against former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. Munish, a doctor by profession, was preparing to leave the American medical profession and try his hand at Delhi politics.
Like Arvind Kejriwal, Munish also started his public life in 2011 through the Anna movement. Recently, Munish announced the formation of his own independent political party and named it the Freedom Party of India.
While announcing his candidacy against Kejriwal on social media, Munish cited corruption in Aam Aadmi’s party as a major issue in the upcoming elections. Munish said I know the politics of Aam Aadmi Party very well. Therefore, I have already begun preparations for the elections next February. I try to get as many volunteers to join me as possible.
Kejriwal is MLA from New Delhi
Arvind Kejriwal was elected to the New Delhi MLA for three consecutive terms. In 2013, Kejriwal defeated then chief minister Sheila Dikshit in her stronghold despite being a new party.
In 2015, she also defeated Professor Kiran Walia, a minister in the Sheila Dikshit government, while the BJP’s Nupur Sharma came second. In 2020, Arvind Kejriwal defeated the BJP’s Sunil Kumar Yadav by a huge margin of 31,000 votes.
This time, neither party’s strategy is ready yet as to who will contest against the Congress and the BJP’s Arvind Kejriwal. But the extent to which former colleague Munish’s anti-corruption rhetoric will be a game-changer will only become clearer as we get closer to the election.
Elections likely to be held in February
Assembly elections are likely to be held in Delhi next February. The term of Delhi Assembly will end on February 23, 2025. In the last elections in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party won 62 out of 70 seats. While the BJP won 8 seats. However, the Congress failed to win even a single seat.
